When do flamingos turn pink

The flamingos are indeed not pink by nature: they become it, in particular because of their food. They are born white-grey and will gradually turn pink.

These large birds live in colonies in humid areas, such as lakes or salinas. These places offer them a very specific diet: algae, larvae and small crustaceans that are very rich in carotenoids, pigments that, once digested by the flamingos, will be deposited on their skin and their feathers. The flamingo has a gland that allows it to excrete excess salts from its nostril, so it prefers shallow, salty, like salinas that it frequents in greater numbers in winter. The algae found in salt lagoons are pink in colour and contain photosynthetic pigments.

These are the carotenoids, like those found in carrots or in many other vegetables and plants. Once the bird swallows this pigment, it will be transmitted and then retransmitted throughout the food chain. It is therefore as they age that flamingos will acquire their pink colour.

However, this is not uniform between individuals, varying from very pale to very dark. Instead, when flamingo chicks hatch they have a dull grey colouration to their feathers.

The reason why flamingos are pink is down to their diet of algae, shrimps and crustaceans. The wetland habitats they call home are packed with blue-green algae, which despite their name are actually red or orange in colour due to a chemical known as beta carotene.

This chemical has a red-orange pigment in it known as carotenoid, which is also found in carrots, sweet potatoes and spinach. Writing about everything from cosmology to anthropology, he specialises in the latest psychology and neuroscience discoveries. Home Nature Why are flamingos pink? Thomas Ling Social networks. The mollusks and crustaceans flamingos snack on contain similar pigment-packing carotenoids.

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