0
Flamingos
Flamingos are tall, pink birds that often stand on one leg. Ask questions here about their habitat, behavior and conservation.
663 Questions
What other animal lives in the same habitat as flamingos?
Another animal that lives in the same habitat as flamingos is: alligators.
Do flamigos turn pink when they eat their food?
there color is pink because they their favorite food shrimp
their knees turn to grey if they don't it shrimp
Do the color pink on flamingos help them?
Yes. Flamingos' pink coloration derives from pigments called carotenoids, which are the basis of red/pink/orange coloration in a variety of animals. These pigments cannot be generated by animals, but originate in photosynthetic organisms (plants, algae, some fungi and bacteria) and are then passed from one species to the next via the food chain. There are 5 major carotenoids found in flamingos, coloring everything from their egg yolks and livers to their feathers and preen oil: echinenone, canthaxanthin, phoenicoxanthin, astaxanthin, and phoenicopterone.
The 6 species of flamingos get their carotenoids from different sources, as a result of the fact that variations in bill morphology allow the birds to access and ingest different-sized prey items. These include diatoms, brine-shrimp, plant seeds, mollusk larvae, and, in particular, cyanobacteria such as Spirulina. Although these foods do not look pink on their own, they contain carotenoids that flamingos metabolize and express in their tissues.
If you see pictures of young flamingos, you will notice that they are whitish-grey, rather than pink; you may also notice that there is quite a bit of color variation even among fully-grown adult birds. Depending on the species, flamingo juveniles do not start expressing their pink coloration until they are 2-4 years old; adults' pink coloration varies according to how many carotenoids they consume and how healthy they are.
When flamingos were first held in captivity, keepers had a hard time maintaining the birds' pink color because they were stressed and not eating natural diets. Commercial food mixes were eventually developed, but not until keepers had tried a variety of other solutions (sometimes successful, sometimes not), including mixing carrot juice in with the flamingos' food and water.
Sources:
Kear, J., and Duplaix-Hall, N. 2010. Flamingos (Poyser Monographs). London: T and AD Poyser Books.
Ogilvie, M.A., and Ogilvie, C. 1986. Flamingos. Stroud, UK: Sutton Publishing.
Phoenicopterus is another name for the wading bird, called the flamingo.
Is the flamingo's eyes bigger than their head?
No, a Flamingos eyes are a lot smaller than its head and it is the same for all 6 species of Flamingo.
How do flamingos senses help defend themselves?
They peck with their beaks and stay in large groups.They don't use their senses.
Is there such things as purple flamingos?
No. Adult flamingos are either white, pink or red in color. Chicks are grey.
What food makes flamingos orange?
Flamingos eat large quantities of shrimp.
.....Not.
They eat Spirulina -- a species of algae found only in a few lakes in Africa, the main one being Lake Tanganyika, which is the second- largest freshwater lake in the world.
Spirulina has a HUGE amount of carotenoids in it (several versions of vit A that make carrots have their orange color) which is why flamingos are pink. It is a very nutrient-dense food, and is one of the few foods that is considered to be 100% nutritionally complete. In other words, an animal can survive solely on spirulina -- and that is exactly what flamingos do.
There's NO way the person who first answered this question could honestly mistake algae for shrimp...they are not even in the same Kingdom of living organism...my sincere recommendation: do not answer questions if you aren't sure of the answer. You might get someone in trouble.
Yes they can run, but they don't run very far because after a few steps they will take off and fly.
Why are flamingos' knees backwards?
What appears to be a birds knees at first sight are actually its ankles. The toes are flat on the ground and the rest of a very long thin foot goes up to the next joint, the ankle. The knee of the bird is covered in feathers. In the flamingo it is particularly noticeable and makes the bird look comical until you realise that it is not its knees bending the wrong way, but its ankles bending the right way.
The mothers or fathers throw up digested shrimp and snails and the babies eat it.
How long does a flamingo carry its baby?
It needs to be incubated (or sat on until able to hatch) for approximately 27 to 30 days.
they don't, they get their pink color from the shrimp they eat
no flamingos don't have pouches because their young do not need them.
How can a flamingo walk forward while bending its legs back?
A flamingo only bends it's leg while standing still. To walk it simply walks like any other bird.
