Flamingos

Fun facts

• Their pink color comes from their diet. Carotenoid pigments from crustaceans and algae build up in their feathers and give them that signature tone.
• They sleep standing on one leg. It cuts down body-heat loss and lets them rest without falling over.
• Their chicks hatch white and gray. It takes them 2 to 3 years to develop the pink tone typical of adults.
• They eat with their head upside down. Their curved beak filters water to catch crustaceans, algae and small insects.
• They are highly social. They live in colonies of thousands and perform synchronized group dances during mating season.

The American flamingo lives across the Caribbean, the northern coast of South America, the Yucatán peninsula and the Galápagos Islands.