What Do Flamingos Eat?
Flamingos have a very specialized diet that gives them their famous pink color. Here’s what they eat:
🌿 Main Diet:
- Algae
- Diatoms (microscopic algae with silica shells)
- Small crustaceans like brine shrimp
- Mollusks
- Insects and their larvae
🔍 How They Eat:
Flamingos are filter feeders. They turn their heads upside down in the water and use their specially adapted beaks to strain food from the mud and water. Their beaks have comb-like structures called lamellae that help trap tiny food particles.
🎨 Why They’re Pink:
Their pink or reddish color comes from pigments called carotenoids, found in the crustaceans and algae they eat. The more carotenoids in their diet, the pinker they become.
What Do Flamingos Eat?
Flamingos have a very specialized diet that gives them their famous pink color. Here’s what they eat:
🌿 Main Diet:
- Algae
- Diatoms (microscopic algae with silica shells)
- Small crustaceans like brine shrimp
- Mollusks
- Insects and their larvae
🔍 How They Eat:
Flamingos are filter feeders. They turn their heads upside down in the water and use their specially adapted beaks to strain food from the mud and water. Their beaks have comb-like structures called lamellae that help trap tiny food particles.
🎨 Why They’re Pink:
Their pink or reddish color comes from pigments called carotenoids, found in the crustaceans and algae they eat. The more carotenoids in their diet, the pinker they become.
