Flamingos Are Animals of the Water

With their flamboyant pink plumage and stilt-like legs, flamingos are instantly recognizable. In fact, their unique beauty has earned them a place in art (cave paintings of the birds date back to 5,000 B.C.) and literature (Alice used them as croquet mallets in Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll). They’ve also become a staple of the landscape, populating lakeshores, salt flats and wetlands around the world. Whether in the wild or at the Zoo, flamingos are a sight to see.

Flamingos have long necks and a short, wide bill with a rounded tip that is used for eating, drinking and bathing. In addition, they have 19 elongated cervical vertebrae that make it easy for them to twist their heads and look in different directions. At the Zoo, zookeepers feed our flamingos a pellet diet that contains all of the nutrients they need and some extra pigment that keeps them “in the pink.”

Young flamingos are dark gray in color, but they soon begin to acquire their signature bright pink hue through a process called metamorphosis. This happens as they shed and grow new feathers, absorbing pigment from the food they eat, such as algae and brine shrimp. The coloration of the feathers also depends on their environment; for example, a flamingo living in a shallow lake will have more intense colors than one that lives in an estuary or a coastal lagoon.

Once a flamingo reaches maturity, it will have a permanent pink color that is maintained by regulating the amount of pigment in its body. In order to do this, the bird must eat a balanced diet that is rich in antioxidants.

Like other birds, flamingos are social creatures that live and breed in colonies. They communicate with their fellow flamingos through a variety of behaviors, including head-flagging, wing salutes, twisting, bowing and marching. The synchronized dances that males put on during courtship displays are especially striking.

In the wild, flamingos spend their lives in shallow freshwater or brackish water lakes or in mudflats. They sometimes migrate to warmer climates or to find new feeding and breeding grounds, and they often travel with other flamingos to the same destination. The migration period usually lasts for a few weeks.

In the wild, flamingos are classified as a species of least concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. However, human activities such as land development, wetland drainage, pollution and rising sea levels are threatening their natural habitats. The Zoo is working with other institutions to monitor and conserve flamingos and their habitats.