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Young flamingos hatch with grayish-red plumage, but adults range from light pink to bright red due to aqueous bacteria and beta-carotene obtained from their food supply. A well-fed, healthy flamingo is more vibrantly colored, thus a more desirable mate; a white or pale flamingo, however, is usually unhealthy or malnourished.
When the Flamingos eat the brine shrimp, their body metabolizes the shrimp, and the pigments turn their feathers pink. Many people think Flamingo's knees bend backward, but the zoo says that we're ...
For example, the bright yellow of an American goldfinch, the startling orange of a juvenile red-spotted newt, the deep red of a cardinal and the pink of a flamingo are all produced by carotenoid pigments synthesized by plants. In the case of the flamingo, the bird eats pink shrimps, which are themselves unable to synthesize carotenoids.
Most of its plumage is pink, giving rise to its earlier name of rosy flamingo and differentiating adults from the much paler greater flamingo. The wing coverts are red, and the primary and secondary flight feathers are black. The bill is pink and white with an extensive black tip. The legs are entirely pink. The call is a goose-like honking.
Presence of flamingo groups near water bodies is an indication of sodic alkaline water which is not suitable for irrigation use. Although blue-green in colour, the algae contain the photosynthetic pigments that give the birds their pink colour. Their deep bill is specially adapted for filtering tiny food items.
The flamingo has a pale pink body with brighter upperparts, deep vinaceous-pink lower neck, breast, and wing coverts. It is the only flamingo species with yellow legs and three-toed feet. [ 7 ] Its bill is pale yellow near the skull, but black for the majority of its length, and curves downward.
Its a myth that Flamingos are Pink because they eat prawns/shrimp. Cyanobacteria, which is part of their primary diet, contain reddish/brown carotene which cause the pigmentation change. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 150.101.201.143 ( talk ) 12:43, 27 March 2009 (UTC) [ reply ]
The largest male flamingos have been recorded to be up to 187 cm (74 in) tall and to weigh 4.5 kg (9.9 lb). [6] Most of the plumage is pinkish-white, but the wing coverts are red and the primary and secondary flight feathers are black. The bill is pink with a restricted black tip, and the legs are entirely pink. The call is a goose-like honking.