You’re listening to Daily Random Facts, an exploration of something you may not know.

Welcome to Slow English FM. This is Daily Random Facts, where we explore surprising facts and how they work. Today’s question is simple: why are flamingos pink?

EmmaA flamingo’s pink feathers get their colour from its food. The Smithsonian National Zoo explains that the colour comes from natural pigments called carotenoids. These pigments can be red, yellow or orange. They occur in algae and in tiny animals such as brine shrimp, which eat algae. When flamingos eat algae and shrimp, their bodies process the pigments, and the pigments help make their feathers pink.

So how do flamingos find such small foods? Their bills work like filters. The San Diego Zoo describes flamingos holding their bills upside down in water and mud. They draw the mixture in, then pump water out at the sides of the bill. Small plates inside the bill, called lamellae, trap tiny food items. Some flamingos can filter very fine particles, including algae. Larger species often eat small animals such as shrimp.

EmmaThis feeding method fits the places where flamingos live. They use lagoons and large, shallow lakes. Some of these lakes are very salty or caustic, which means they can harm many animals. In some lakes, algae and small crustaceans are among the few kinds of life around. Those are useful food sources for birds that filter food from water and mud. And some of that food carries the pigments that colour the feathers.

Young flamingos do not begin life with bright pink feathers. The Smithsonian says chicks hatch with white-gray down and straight bills. They take several years to develop pink plumage and hooked bills. The colour also changes with feather condition: shed feathers quickly lose their colour. At the San Diego Zoo, flamingos receive special food pellets containing pigment to help maintain their colour. A bird’s familiar pink look, then, is linked to what it eats and to the condition of its feathers.

EmmaA flamingo’s colour tells a small story about its life: what it eats, and how its body processes that food. Thanks for listening to Daily Random Facts on Slow English FM. Stay with us for more clear English stories about the world.