Flamingo trivia | 40 facts about the cute animal

These days flamingos are everywhere. These animals managed somehow to become a fashion trend due to their unique appearance.

So, let’s find out more things about these lovely animals, that we love to see, and of course recreate on our clothes.

1. Flamingos or flamingoes are a type of wading bird.
2. They belong in the family Phoenicopteridae, the only bird family in the order Phoenicopteriformes.
3. Four flamingo species are distributed throughout the Americas, including the Caribbean, and two species are native to Africa, Asia, and Europe.
4. The name “flamingo” comes from Portuguese or Spanish flamengo, which means “flame-colored”.
5. The first flamingo hatched in a European zoo was a Chilean flamingo at Zoo Basel in Switzerland in 1958.
6. Since then, over 389 flamingos have grown up in Basel and been distributed to other zoos around the globe.
7. Greater is an at least 83-year-old greater flamingo, and it is believed to be the oldest in the world.
8. Greater died at the Adelaide Zoo in Australia in January 2014.
9. Zoos have used mirrors to improve flamingo breeding behaviour.
10. The mirrors are thought to give the flamingos the impression that they are in a larger flock than they actually are
11. You can;t easily distinguish them though.
12. Adult flamingos are four to five feet tal.
13. They only weigh between four and eight pounds.
14. Their body is the main reason why they can’t… fight!
15. Flamingos tend to congregate in mudflats or lagoons, where they can find shallow saltwater prey.
16. These habitats makes their predators’ lives difficult.
17. Flamingos feed by stirring up mud with their feet.
18. Then they reach down and scoop up a beakful of mud and water. Their beaks are designed to strain animals out of the mud, and the muddy water is expelled.
19. Fun factL This happens as the flamingo’s head is upside-down.
20. The American flamingo is the only flamingo species native to North America.
21. Despite that facts it is rarely seen in the United States anymore.
22. It is generally more brightly colored than the Greater flamingo that inhabits the coasts of Africa, Asia, and southern Europe.
23. Tthe Greater flamingo is the most widespread species.
24. The most numerous is the Lesser flamingo (Phoenicopterus minor) though.
25. The color pink comes from beta-carotene in the crustaceans and plankton that flamingos eat.
26. Zoo flamingos will turn white if their diet is not supplemented with live shrimp or flamingo chow containing carotenoid pigments.
27. The feathers under their wings (flight feathers) are black.
28. As flamingos are birds, they can fly.
29. Flamingos flock in groups of up to several hundred birds.
30. They also mate while being in a flock.
31. However, different species and even different flocks will put a slightly different spin on their communal rituals.
32. Flamingos are into gender equality. The male and female of a mating pair build a nest together.
33. Also, both sit on the egg while it incubates for about a month.
34. Some flamingos steal a nest from others.
35. When a flamingo chick hatches, both parents take turns feeding it:.
36. First with a special liquid baby food they produce in their throats called crop milk, then with regurgitated regular flamingo food as the chick ages.
37. Flamingos are not endagered, but they are classified as “least concern”, because their number is unstable.
38. Plastic lawn flamingos (Phoenicopterus plasticus) are an American cultural icon that was introduced in 1957 by artist Don Featherstone.
39. In 2009, Madison, Wisconsin, named the plastic pink flamingo the city’s official bird.
40. Apart from flying flamingos can swim, but they rarely choose to do it.