Why are flamingos pink?

Actually, flamingos are not pink. They are born with grey feathers, which gradually turn pink in the wild because of a natural pink dye called canthaxanthin that they obtain from their diet of brine shrimp and blue-green algae. read more

Flamingos that eat mostly algae are more deeply colored than birds that eat the small animals that feed off of algae. So, you typically find deeply-colored pink and orange flamingos in the Caribbean, yet pale pink flamingos in drier habitats, like Lake Nakuru in Kenya. read more

The pelican went on to explain why flamingos are pink to the seagull. We'll summarize what we learned for you here. With vibrant pink and orange plumage that seems sunset-inspired, flamingos are some of the best dressed birds in the avian world. read more

Flamingos live by lakes, swamps and wetlands, and so they eat mostly algae, insect larvae and small crustaceans, such as shrimp and mollusks. The red and blue-green algae they consume is loaded with beta carotene, an organic chemical that contains a reddish-orange pigment. read more