Why are flamingos pink?
Why are flamingos pink? Picture courtesy Resmi Varma Actually, flamingos are born with grey feathers, which gradually turn pink. The pink colour of flamingo feathers is caused by the presence of carotenoid pigments found in the algae and crustaceans that make up the diet of a flamingo. Picture courtesy Resmi Varma For a long while, flamingos in zoos kept losing their delicate pink colour and fading to white.Then keepers realised the problem was due to their diet. Flamingos feed on a certain kind of algae and these algae contain certain chemicals called carotenoids that are responsible for the pink. If a flamingo does not get these algae, it does not get the carotenoids and its colour fades. The quantity of carotenoids that flamingos eat determines how pink the bird will be.