Interesting facts about flamingos

Flamingos are a type of bird in the Phoenicopteridae family. Four species of flamingos are distributed throughout the Americas, including the Caribbean and two species originated in Africa, Asia and Europe.

Characteristics of flamingos

Flamingos are large birds that can be identified with long, sticky legs and pink or red feathers. Flamingos express the saying 'you are what you eat'. The pink and red color of the flamingos comes from eating pigments in algae and invertebrates.

Flamingos express their sentences i 'you are what you eat'.

There are six species of flamingos, according to the Integrated Classification Information System (ITIS):

1. Large flamingos
2. Flamingos are less
3. Chilean flamingos
4. Andean flamingos
5. James flamingos
6. American flamingos.

Large flamingos are the tallest species. It is 1.2 to 1.45 meters high and weighs 3.5 kg. The smallest species is a small flamingo, standing 80 cm and weighing 2.5 kg. The wings of the pink crane range from 95 cm to 150 cm.

Where do flamingos live?

1. American flamingos live in the West Indies, Yucatán, in northern South America and along the Galapagos Islands.
2. Chilean flamingos, Andean and James live in South America.
3. Large and small flamingos live in Africa.
4. Larger flamingos can also be found in the Middle East and India.

Flamingos are waterbirds, so they live in and around the lagoon or lake. The body of water is likely to be salty or alkaline. Flamingos usually do not migrate, but climate changes or water levels in their breeding areas will cause them to move.

What do flamingos eat?

Flamingos eat larvae, small insects, blue and red algae, mollusks.

Flamingos eat larvae, small insects, blue and red algae, molluscs, crustaceans and small fish. Because their ability to eat both plants and meat makes them omnivores.

Flamingos are pink because of the algae they eat, they get beta carotene, an organic chemical that contains orange red pigments. (Beta carotene is also present in many plants, but especially in tomatoes, spinach, pumpkins, sweet potatoes and, of course, carrots). The krill and crustaceans eat flakes containing similar carotenoids.

The level of carotene (organic pigments) in their food varies in different regions of the world, which is why the American flamingos are often bright red and orange, while the pink ones. Lake Nakuru's small crane suffered a drought in central Kenya with a lighter pink color.

If a flamingo stops eating food containing carotenoids, its new hair will begin to grow with much lighter color, and its red hair will eventually fall off. The molting fur is pale pink.

What a pink crane eats depends on the type of mine it has. Less, James and Andean flamingos have something called a short beak, which feeds mainly on algae. Large flamingos, Chile and the US have shorter mines, allowing them to eat insects, invertebrates and small fish.

To eat, flamingos will stir the bottom of the lake with their feet and release their beaks into mud and water to find food.

Habit

Pink flaming groups are called herds. The flamingoes work together to protect each other from predators and take care of the young.

It is believed that flamingos are 'monogamous' pairs. Once mating, they will stay with that mate. A group of flamingos will mate at the same time so that all chicks will hatch at the same time. Couples will nest on mud and the females will lay an egg at the same time.

Each egg is slightly larger than the large egg, between 78 and 90 mm long and 115 to 140 grams. Eggs will take 27 to 31 days to hatch and newly hatched chicks will weigh only 73 to 90 g.

Baby flamingos are gray or white. They will turn pink in the first few years of life. Flamingos live 20 to 30 years in nature or up to 50 years in a zoo.

Baby flamingos are gray or white.

Conservation status

According to the International Union's Red List of Threatened Species, no flamingos are currently considered endangered. Chilean and James flamingos are considered near-threatened because their numbers are very small or declining, according to IUCN reports.

Other interesting facts

Fossil evidence indicates that the flamingos group evolved very long and existed about 30 million years ago.

It is not known why flamingos often stand on one leg, but it is hypothesized that keeping one of their legs away from cold water helps them retain body heat. It also seems to be a comfortable resting place for it.

Although it is believed that flamingos are tropical birds, they can also live and grow in cold environments as long as they have access to plenty of water and food.

In East Africa, more than 1 million flamingos have been known to gather together, forming the largest known flock.

Flamingos can detect rain 500km away

Flamingos in Africa rely on the busy life of freshwater lakes. But many lakes they depend on are fleeting, almost completely dry.

But on Namibia's arid coastline, large flamingos appear to signal when it rains because the normally dry Etosha Pan area is 500 km away. It is possible that birds are very sensitive to microscopic droplets in atmospheric pressure that signal the coming rain.

But no one knows if this is true, and if so, how they do it. Like the magnetic feeling, the weather sensation of flamingos and other birds is a mystery.

Flamingos bully each other

This surprising behavior was seen in all six flamingos at the center of the wetland and a flamingos were even seen plunging into another sleeping on one leg.

Further research is needed why birds do this, because confusing behavior does not seem to benefit immediately for birds, especially when intentional collisions use more energy and have risk of injury.