Look a little closer
Flamingos are not born wearing their familiar bright pink. Chicks begin with gray or whitish plumage, and the color develops as the birds repeatedly consume pigments called carotenoids in their food.
Carotenoids are natural yellow, orange and red pigments made by plants and algae. Microscopic algae eaten by flamingos contain them, and small crustaceans accumulate the pigments when they feed on the algae. Flamingos filter both kinds of food from shallow water.
After digestion, the pigments are processed by the bird's body. Some of the resulting compounds are deposited in the skin and in feathers as those feathers grow, gradually producing shades from pale pink to red.
The result is not identical in every flamingo. Species, diet and health all influence the shade and intensity. Food available in captivity can differ from food in the wild, so zoos provide nutritionally balanced diets that include suitable pigment sources.
The color is not painted permanently onto a feather and kept for life. Feathers wear out and are replaced, and a continuing dietary supply helps maintain the color of new plumage. If pigment intake falls, later feathers may grow in paler.
A flamingo's pink is therefore a visible trail through a food web. Pigments made by microscopic life, sometimes passed through tiny crustaceans, eventually become part of one of the world's most recognizable sets of feathers.
