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- Flamingo animal and its characteristic color
- Flamingo: food
- Pink Flamingo: because they have this color
Flamingos are birds of the genus phoenicopterus, of which three living species are known, phoenicopterus chilensis (Chilean flamingo), phoenicopterus roseus (common flamingo) and phoenicopterus ruber (pink flamingo), all of them from pink color when adults.
This is a unique bird, of large size and peculiar appearance, it is capable of traveling great distances during the migration season. It lives in humid areas, where they feed and raise their young, with only one young per pair of flamingos. At birth, the puppies are grayish white with certain parts of the body black, but when they reach adulthood, they acquire a wonderful and characteristic pink color.
In this article by PeritoAnimal we will explain because the flamingo is pink and how he acquires that color. To unravel this mystery, keep reading!
Flamingo animal and its characteristic color
The color of the birds is a result of the pigment accumulation in integumentary structures (fur or mainly feathers). Birds do not produce all the pigments or colors they do, most come from their diet. Thus, birds can create melanin, giving a black or brown color in different shades, the absence of this pigment results in a white color. Other colors like yellow, orange, red or green are acquired through food.
There is only one group of birds, belonging to the family mUsophagidae, that produce true pigments in addition to melanin, these pigments are uroporphyrin III which gives a violet color and turacoverdin, the only truly green pigment known among birds.
At bird feathers have thousands of functions, such as camouflage, finding a mate, or establishing territory. In addition, a bird's feathers can give a lot of information about the individual, such as health status, sex, way of life and vital season.
Generally, birds change their feathers at least once a year, this change does not occur randomly, each region of the body is without feathers at a given time. There are also concrete changes that only happen before the estrus or at the time of reproduction of the species, giving rise to a different plumage from the rest of the year, usually more showy and striking, whose goal is to find a partner.
The color and shape of the feathers are determined by genetics and hormonal influence. Feathers are mainly composed of keratin, a protein that is produced and organized by epidermal cells before the feather starts to come out of a follicle through the skin. Structural variations of keratin produce optical effects which, together with different pigment distributions, give rise to different color patterns in birds.
Did you know that flamingos are migratory birds? See more about the characteristics of these birds and also examples in this article by PeritoAnimal.
Flamingo: food
You flamingos are filter feeders. To feed, they submerge their head in water, placing it between their paws. With their help and with the beak, they remove the sandy bottom causing organic matter to enter their beak, closing it and pressing it with the tongue, causing the water to come out leaving the food trapped in one of the thin sheets it has. on the edge of the beak, in the form of a comb.
The pink flamingo's diet is diverse and not very selective due to the way it feeds. When filtering water, flamingos can consume small aquatic organisms such as insects, crustaceans, molluscs, worms, algae and protozoa.
Now that you know why the flamingo is pink, also check out this PeritoAnimal list with the 10 birds that do not fly.
Pink Flamingo: because they have this color
From all the organisms that flamingos feed, they can acquire pigments, but mainly the brine shrimp makes flamingos pink. This small crustacean lives in very salty swamps, hence its name.
When the flamingo eats it, during digestion, the pigments are metabolized so that they bind to fat molecules, traveling to the skin and then to the feathers when the plumage change takes place. And, as a result, one has one of the most striking features of the pink flamingo. Flamingo chicks do not turn pink until they change plumage into adulthood.
On the other hand, it is known that pink flamingo males during the heat season extract an oil from their uropigial gland, located at the base of the tail, with a strong pink color, which is extracted by the feathers to have a more attractive appearance for females.
Below, check out some pink flamingo photos.
If you want to read more articles similar to because the flamingo is pink, we recommend that you enter our Curiosities section of the animal world.