why is a flamingo pink?

Answer 1

Young flamingos hatch with grey plumage, but the feathers of an adult range from light pink to bright red, due to carotenoids obtained from their food supply. A flamingo that is well fed and healthy is vibrantly coloured bright pink or red. The pinker a flamingo is, the more desirable it is as a mate. A white or pale flamingo, however, is usually unhealthy or suffering from a lack of food. Notable exceptions are the flamingos in captivity, many of which turned a pale pink as they are not fed foods containing sufficient amounts of carotene. This is changing as more zoos begin to add shrimp and other supplements to the diets of their flamingos. All flamingos have 12 black flight feathers in each wing.

Answer 2

A flamingo is only pink if it eats food with pink pigments in it! In the wild this is their natural food - which is a kind of tiny shrimp. In captivity pink dye is added to their food, otherwise the flamingoes turn white.

Answer 3

Feather color varies with species, ranging from pale pink to crimson or vermilion. Caribbean flamingos have the brightest coloration: crimson or vermilion. The Chilean flamingo is pale pink.
A flamingo's pink or reddish feather color comes from its diet, which is high in alpha and beta-carotene. People eat beta-carotene when they eat carrots.

Answer 4

It is a dietry thing.They feed on algae which gives the bird the pigment colour of pink.If it were to loose it's food source it's colour would change.

Answer 5

I think it's something to do with the algea they eat, or creatures or something which turns them pink...although I can't remember for sure

Answer 6

It eats shrimp.

Answer 7

hu i dont know maybe because god made them that way?

Answer 8

because it just is... god made it that way... thats the best i got...