Now more than ever flamingos are in fashion. Their beauty has always been undeniable, but for some time now they have become the object of desire in the world of fashion and decoration…. I bet you also have at home some decorative figure of a flamingo, a cushion with this animal print, a T-shirt or maybe a bag or a necklace…
They are everywhere! But have you ever wondered why flamingos are so beautifully colored?
The color of flamingos
One of the reasons they make it special is probably because pink is not abundant in the animal world.
But why are they pink? The answer to this question can be found in the diet of these animals.
Flamingos have a diet based on crustaceans, algae, plankton and shrimp that have pink pigments (carotenoids), hence their plumage acquires pink, orange and reddish tones.
Of course, by this we do not mean that because they eat food with pink pigment they stay that color. What happens is that the vast majority of what makes up the diet of flamingos is loaded with a chemical compound known as canthaxanthin, which is present in many other elements in nature. This chemical compound is broken down in the flamingo’s liver and then dispersed to the animal’s feathers, beak and legs, giving it its characteristic color.
This is the reason why the pink color of flamingos living in their natural habitat is very intense and striking. If you notice, many times, the flamingos that live in captivity usually lose that color, or at least the intensity of it… although many zoos have already started to add this chemical compound to the water and food of the animals, so that they do not lose that beautiful color and continue to have that great attraction.
We have found on YouTube this video of the dance performed by flamingos to choose their partners and we are sure that it will fascinate you as much as it fascinated us:
