Some flamingos will travel to breed, migrate to a new body of water as seasons change, or move to warmer, lower-altitude areas for the winter. You may be used to seeing flamingos gathered in large groups on the ground, but they also take flight.
Both parents can produce crop milk to feed a flamingo chick until it is old enough to eat on its own. It may sound icky, but a flamingo’s crop milk is chock-full of healthy proteins and fats. Flamingo parents feed their chicks a liquid they secrete, called crop milk.Ī flamingo’s “milk” is produced in its crop (part of its throat) and then brought up through its mouth. The high salt can still be deadly for some flamingo chicks if salt rings build up on their legs, making it impossible for them to walk.
#Ligher wtih white flamingo skin
Researchers are still uncovering the unique aspects of a flamingo’s physiology - like tough leg skin - that help it survive such harsh waters. The high concentration of carbonate salts in these lakes is so corrosive that it can burn the skin, making the water uninhabitable for most animals. But some flamingo species breed and raise their young in extremely salty bodies of water, called alkaline or “soda” lakes. Some flamingos live in extreme environments.įlamingos are typically found in shallow saltwater or brackish waters (where saltwater and freshwater mix). When the leg bends, it’s the ankle you see hinging.
Confused? Think of a flamingo as standing on tiptoe. A flamingo’s knees are located higher up the legs, hidden by the body and feathers. What looks like a flamingo's knee is really its ankle joint. Don’t let your eyes deceive you - a flamingo’s knees don’t bend backward!įlamingo legs actually bend just like human legs. There are more than 2 million lesser flamingos brightening skies and shores with their pink plumage. They are the smallest flamingos and the most abundant. Lesser flamingos are found in parts of Africa and southern Asia. Andean flamingos are the rarest of the six species, with fewer than 40,000 birds. They are the largest and tallest flamingo species.Ĭhilean, Andean, and James’s flamingos are found only in South America. Greater flamingos are found in parts of Africa, Asia, and Europe. In addition to Caribbean flamingos, there are lesser, greater, James’s (or Puna), Chilean and Andean flamingos. Comb-like plates along the edge of the bill create a filter for water to rush out, while trapping food inside.
It then sweeps its head side-to-side, using its tongue to pump water in and out of its bill. When it’s time to eat, a flamingo will place its head upside down in the water with its bill pointed at its feet. They eat algae, small seeds, tiny crustaceans (like brine shrimp), fly larvae, and other plants and animals that live in shallow waters. The term filter feeder may conjure images of baleen whales or oyster reefs, but flamingos are filter feeders too. Flamingos are filter feeders and turn their heads “upside down” to eat. As a flamingo dines on algae and brine shrimp, its body metabolizes the pigments - turning its feathers pink. They are also found in the microscopic algae that brine shrimp eat. Carotenoids give carrots their orange color or turn ripe tomatoes red. Many plants produce natural red, yellow or orange pigments, called carotenoids.
Flamingos get their pink color from their food.įlamingos really are what they eat.
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