Flamingos

Can you imagine what a pink bird with long legs would look like? If so, you would be picturing a flamingo. In fact, a flamingo stands up to 51 inches tall, but only weighs approximately seven-and-a-half pounds. It takes about two years for a flamingo to reach its full height. The male flamingo stands taller than the female flamingo.

The bright pinkish color for which the flamingo is known doesn’t come right away. Baby flamingos are born gray or white. It is said that the feathers of a flamingo turn pink because of the food they eat. The flamingo’s legs are very long and spindly. What looks like the flamingo’s knee is actually its ankle joint. The knee is located up closer to the body. The flamingo has webbing between its toes to aid in swimming and stirring up food.

So, what does the flamingo eat? Well, it’s probably not something you will find on your dinner plate any time soon. The flamingo eats algae, insect larva, adult insects, crustaceans, and small fish. The shape of a flamingo’s bill will determine the type of food it will eat. Flamingos have either a shallow or deep-keeled bill. The flamingos with shallow bills eat more of the fish and crustaceans. The ones with deep-keeled bills eat more of the algae. You might have seen a flamingo hang its head upside down in the water. The flamingo was probably eating. Yum!