Animal of Week #7: Flamingo

You can see flamingos in your local zoo or even in many storybooks. Have you ever wondered why flamingos are pink? Well, a flamingo's pink or reddish feather color comes from its diet, which is high in alpha. Isn't that just strange? I have always wondered that so, I thought I would share that if you were also wondering. Flamingos are very interesting animals they are so talented that they can stand on only one foot. They seem like very gentles animals and which they are to people. There are 5 species of flamingos that occur throughout the world. The greater flamingo is as tall as a grown-up person is. The lesser flamingo is as tall as a first-grader.
The five species are:
- Caribbean Flamingo
- Greater Flamingo
- Chilean Flamingo
- Lesser Flamingo
- Andean Flamingo
- James Flamingo
Where do Flamingos live?
Flamingos live in lagoons, or lakes, where there is lots of mud and water. Flamingos use many of habitats: swamps, tidal flats, and sandy islands. The depth of the water is especially important not only for feeding, but for nesting.
What do they eat?
The typical flamingo diet consists of seeds, blue-green algae, and mollusks they filter out of the water. Using their long legs and partially webbed feet, flamingos will stamp on the muddy bottom of lagoons to mix the food particles with the water. Different species of flamingo have slightly different shaped bills; the different shapes helping it obtain slightly different types of food. Flamingos drink fresh water always.

I think flamingos are very awesome animals and they catch my eye every time I go to the zoo. I hope they never become extinct. That would be very sad if they did. Well what do you think of flamingos? Comment below and tell me! Enjoy (:
Click here to learn more!