Animale
Greater flamingo
From grey chick to pink feathers, with a nest built from mud.
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A flamingo does not hatch with pink feathers. Young flamingos are grey, and their colouring changes gradually as they grow and eat food rich in carotenoids. These pigments in the diet affect the colour of the plumage. Greater flamingos inhabit shallow lakes, lagoons and river deltas. Their food includes crustaceans, molluscs, insects and other invertebrates, as well as algae and plant material.
A pair builds a cone-shaped nest from mud. It may reach about 40 centimetres high, with a shallow hollow at the top. Both parents incubate the egg for roughly 28-32 days. The chick leaves the nest after around ten days but still needs care. It remains under its parents’ care for 65-90 days.
A young flamingo’s bill does not yet have the shape needed to filter food. Its parents therefore feed it a protein-rich secretion known as crop milk. An adult reaches a body length of 120-150 centimetres and weighs around 2.5-3.5 kilograms. Its delicate outline conceals a feeding method closely tied to shallow water, while growth changes both the chick’s bill and the colour of its feathers.
Per bambini
A baby flamingo is not pink from the start. It hatches with grey plumage. As it grows and eats food containing pigments called carotenoids, its feathers gradually turn pink. Flamingos live beside shallow lakes, lagoons and river mouths.
Their nest looks like a small cone made of mud. A hollow at the top holds the egg. Both parents take turns incubating it for around 28-32 days. The chick leaves the nest after about ten days, but its parents still look after it.
The young bird’s bill cannot yet filter food properly. Its parents therefore give it a special protein-rich secretion called crop milk. Adult flamingos eat small aquatic animals, algae and plant material. The colour of their feathers is connected with what goes into their bills.
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What makes a growing flamingo’s feathers turn pink?
- Posizione
- Greater flamingo