15 interesting facts about Flamingos
- A flamingo’s eye is larger than its brain.
- Flamingos are pinkish in color due to the intake of carotene present in the food that they eat.
- The legs of an adult flamingo are longer than its body.
- They eat with their head upside down, thus helping them to suck water and food in with the front of their bill.
- They are omnivorous and can filter as many as 20 beakfuls of algae-rich water in a second.
- A vibrantly colored flamingo is considered to be well-fed and healthy while a white or pale flamingo is usually unhealthy or malnourished.
- Young flamingos hatch with a grey plumage while the adults range from light pink to bright red.
- While standing in the water, the flamingos use their webbed feet in the mud to stir up food from the bottom.
- Flamingos can often be seen standing on one leg, the other tucked beneath the body.
- The speed of a flock of flamingos can reach 31 to 37 miles per hour.
- When incubating the egg, both the mother and father take turns in sitting on the egg and nursing the chick when it has hatched.
- More than a million Lesser flamingos found in Africa is the biggest flock of birds found anywhere in the world.
- Flamingos can fly 300 miles at a stretch to reach a new habitat.
- They are sociable and live in colonies to protect themselves from predators.
- Flamingos sit by extending their legs backwards.
