Why Are Flamingos Pink?

As you know, flamingos are beautiful birds that we often see pink. However, the color of their feathers is not hereditary, so there is no gene in their DNA that would pigment them. So, why are they pink?

Actually, all flamingos are born grey and turn pink, white, or even orange later in their lives due to their specific diet. Flamingos usually live around water, so they mostly feed on shrimp, algae, and crustaceans, which all may have a pink/orange pigment called carotenoid. When they are consumed, enzymes in the flamingo's digestive system break down carotenoids into orange and pink pigment molecules. In the liver, these molecules are absorbed by fats and then accumulated across the flamingo's body, such as in their skin, legs, feathers, and even beaks.

However, flamingos are not always pink. Some might have lighter or darker shades of pink, be slightly orange or even a little bit red. They might vary in color based on their location and the food they consume. For example, Andean flamingos are mostly white because their diet does not contain a lot of carotenoid pigment due to their location in the Andean mountains in South America.

Flamingos may also change in color before the mating season. During that time, they need to appear as bright as they can to attract partners because the pinker flamingos are, the healthier they are. Therefore, those who are pinker have higher chances to mate and produce healthy offspring! However, after that, both females and males can lose their pigments. It happens because the majority of the food is used during the mating season and is later given to their chicks.