When I went to the zoo as a young spawn, the first habitat I saw was the flamingos. As a small, clueless child, I just thought they were some strange pink bird. To be honest, they bored me. However, now I am grown (physically) and I have learned some very fascinating facts about these odd birds that I wanted to share with you.
1. The Flamingo's Color
Obviously, flamingos are pink. You probably thought that was natural, right? WRONG!!! Flamingos acquire this unique color from eating shrimp. How cool is that?! They get their astounding coloring from beta-carotene, which can only be found in crustaceans. Since their coloring stems from the protein, if a flamingo ate a kumquat, it would not turn orange just because that is the color of the kumquat. Other fun fact: flamingos have black feathers that you can only see when they fly (how punk rock it that?).
2. The Flamingo's Mating Ritual
This part might get graphic so hide the kids! Flamingos have this fantastical mating ritual, where they all group together and DANCE! This is completely serious! They dance in this big flock of pinkness and waddle around while moving their heads from side to side. Sometimes, they like to get a bit saucy and throw in some extra moves; wink wink. Flamingos do this dance so well that even humans try to get in on it. When a human male gets drunk at a bar and sees an attractive lady he will dance to attract the women. This tactic obviously fails, but why? It's because he's not a flamingo and doesn't know all the mating dance secrets. Plus, being intoxicated might also have something to do with it.
3. Flamingo Eggs (*cue collective 'awww'*)
After flamingo mating ritual, they produce their spawn in an egg. While the egg is growing, the male and female flamingo make a nest and warm their egg together (aww). Sadly, some mating pairs are crooks and steal a nest (causing for some unnecessary tensions). Once the little youngster emerges into the world, its parents feed it something called crop milk (a gooey and crumbly substance that the parents throw up into the baby's mouth)-- glad my parents aren't flamingos. At this stage, all baby flamingos are basically ugly ducklings with their gray feathers and straight beaks.
4. A Multitude of Flamingos!
There are six different types of flamingos. While there is only one kind of human (BORING), there's a large variety of flamingos (EXCITING).
The first type of flamingo is called an Andean flamingo. These are the rarest as far flamingos go. Andeans are also very pale (like it's a vampire flamingo!).
The second type is known as the Chilean flamingo. These guys have long plump feathers with pink knees! Pink knees? (that's freaking adorable).
The third type of flamingo is the greater flamingo (Arrogant much?). They are the largest type of flamingo and have bright red coloring (aka the color of arrogance).
The fourth type of flamingo, and possibly the saddest, is known as the lesser flamingo. These poor creatures are known as the lesser flamingo because they are short (whoever named these poor animals was probably height-ist). Since these guys are small, the majority of other animals prey on them (so sad).
The fifth type is known as the Puna Flamingo (such a cute name). These guys are probably the prettiest with their speckled pink spots around their necks and bright red skin around their eyes (model level fashion).
Finally, the sixth type is known as the American Flamingo (I wonder where they're from?) You guessed it:The Galapagos Islands! They acquired their name because they are the only flamingo naturally in the US. These guys are a rosy color. Though they are the most common breed, they are certainly not the most boring.
By the end of this exciting and informative article I hope you are now able to appreciate these fantastic birds as much as I do. If I could choose to be an animal in a next life (or just because a witch got angry with me), I hope I get to be a Flamingo, because they are truly fascinating.
