The surprising truth about why flamingos are pink.

A flamingo is not born pink. Chicks hatch with grey or white down, and the famous colour arrives later – from lunch. A flamingo’s pink is not a pigment it makes itself; it is a pigment it eats, processes and wears.

Colour that comes from food

Flamingos feed on algae, small crustaceans and other foods rich in carotenoids – the same family of pigments that makes carrots orange. Enzymes in the bird’s liver break those carotenoids down into pink and orange pigment molecules, which then travel through the body and settle in the skin and feathers.

Why a flamingo can fade

Because the colour depends on a continuing supply, it can drain away. Feathers are replaced over time, and a bird that stops taking in carotenoids – through illness, stress or a poorer diet – grows paler new feathers. Zoos learned this early: captive flamingos on the wrong diet faded toward white, which is why their food is carefully supplemented.

A bill built like a filter

The feeding hardware is as unusual as the colour. A flamingo feeds with its head upside down, sweeping its specially shaped bill through shallow water and filtering out tiny food items – the same upside-down posture that makes the bird look like it is grazing the lagoon floor.

Sources

• Encyclopaedia Britannica: Why Are Flamingos Pink?
• Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute: Flamingo facts