Have you ever ever stopped to surprise why flamingos seem like they’ve stepped out of a tropical sundown? With their placing pink, coral, and generally even reddish feathers, these birds are among the many most vibrant within the animal kingdom. However right here’s the twist, they’re not born that approach.
Surprisingly, flamingos hatch with gentle gray or white feathers. Yep, that basic pink isn’t one thing they’re born with. It’s one thing they develop into, and imagine it or not, it’s all about what they eat.
Flamingos feed on a mixture of algae, brine shrimp, and tiny crustaceans present in salty wetlands and lagoons. These meals are wealthy in pure pigments known as carotenoids, the identical stuff that makes carrots orange and salmon pink. When flamingos digest these pigments, their our bodies break them down and deposit them into their pores and skin and feathers, regularly turning them that lovely rosy hue.
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Surprisingly, flamingos hatch with gentle gray or white feathers (Supply: Freepik)
The extra pigment-packed their weight-reduction plan, the deeper the color. Flamingos in areas the place meals is wealthy in carotenoids are likely to look extra vibrant, whereas others could seem lighter or paler relying on what’s accessible of their habitat.
Right here’s one thing you won’t anticipate: flamingos don’t simply depend on meals to remain fabulous; in addition they do a little bit of grooming with model. Scientists have found that in mating season, these birds rub oil from glands close to their tails onto their feathers. This oil accommodates carotenoids too, performing like a pure blush to make their colors pop much more. It’s principally flamingo cosmetics, and sure, it really works.
Why go to all this effort? As a result of within the flamingo world, color issues. A flamingo with wealthy, vibrant feathers normally has a powerful immune system and entry to good meals — two indicators of a wholesome, fascinating mate. When it’s time to draw a accomplice, the brightest chook usually will get probably the most consideration.
Curiously, when flamingos turn out to be mother and father, they generally lose their vibrant colouring briefly. That’s as a result of they divert their carotenoid consumption into producing “crop milk” to feed their chicks, a reminder that even probably the most lovely birds make sacrifices for household.
