The bright colour of flamingo feathers is caused by the presence of carotenoid pigments found in the algae and crustaceans that make up the diet of a flamingo.
Tales of blue flamingos are completely false, but a single black flamingo has been seen. It's not a new species, and it's been spotted twice - once in Israel and once in Cyprus.
They could be different birds, but some experts think it's the same individual. The cause is excess melanin being produced by the flamingo, which is a condition occasionally seen in other birds as well.
The pinkest birds have the highest status in the colony as the bright colour shows that a particular individual is strong and good at finding food resources.
During a colony’s breeding time, a high ranking individual will influence the rest of the flock to breed by changing its feather colour to a deeper pink, kick-starting the breeding rituals.
o – flamingos are pink on the inside, too. These flamboyant birds are adapted to collect and metabolise carotenoid pigments – the chemicals found in algae, crustaceans and microscopic plant materials that form tones of orange, red, yellow and pink.
Are flamingos pink on the inside?
Though the pink coloration is most obvious in a flamingo’s plumage, the carotenoids also impregnate the bird’s tissues, skin, blood and even egg yolk. Flamingos are among a select few birds that feed their young directly from a secretion produced in their crop (throat), and even this ‘crop milk’ is bright pink. Interestingly, so much carotenoid is taken up by their eggs and crop milk that by the end of a breeding season parents of both sexes have lost the pink colouring from their feathers and appear almost white. Scientists have found that the blood biochemistry of each of the six flamingo species varies, with different species seeking specific types of carotenoid. This accounts for the range of hues.
Are flamingos born pink?
Both parents feed their chick blood-red flamingo milk, which is a carotenoid-rich secretion produced in the crop (throat). The hatchlings, pale at first, gradually gain their rosy hues from this food. During the breeding season, the adults’ appearance fades. Their moult their feathers, and because they aren’t feeding particularly well, the replacements aren’t as bright as those that developed before courtship.
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