How Do Pink Flamingos Protect Themselves?
Easily recognized, flamingos have a long neck, curved bill and pink to red feathers. Flamingo feathers are initially white; the coloration comes from a carotenoid pigment found in their food that deposits in fatty tissues, skin and feathers (just as human skin will turn orange from beta carotene if you eat too many carrots). A bright pink bird on a salty, flat, blue lake devoid of vegetation should be an easy target. Yet adult flamingos are able to protect themselves in multiple ways.
What Flamingos Protect Themselves Against
Flamingos are preyed upon by vultures, storks, eagles and land predators such as lions, leopards, jackals and pythons. Their eggs and young are threatened by other birds and unwary adults are snatched from the flock by larger predators. In Africa, researchers estimate 5 percent of the Lake Magadi population die of predation. Humans also prey on flamingos, eating their eggs as a delicacy in some parts of the world. In the Andes Mountains, native peoples believed flamingo fat could cure tuberculosis.
Individual Protection
Flamingos can defend themselves as individuals by kicking or by pinching with their strong curved bill. Their long neck gives them the advantage of reach as they dart their head toward a threat and jab with their bill. Vocal communication is also important among flamingos, not only for mating and finding their young, but for alarm calls.
Flock Protection
Flocks can be as large as several hundred to several thousand birds. In some areas, flocks reach into the millions. Flock members use their excellent hearing to detect predators from every direction. If one bird reacts to a perceived threat, the rest of the nearby flock will follow, ensuring that most can escape the danger. Any bird not paying attention or unable to fly can become food. Predators eat the slow, the unaware, the old and the sick, thereby making the flock stronger as a whole.
Geography
Adaptation to dining on briny lake creatures in volcanic salt lakes allows flamingos to relax as far as competition for food and space. Restriction of fresh water and the presence of acid salts make the flamingo's territory inhospitable to most other creatures. The remote location of their breeding grounds provides a great deal of protection to growing flamingo chicks. Adult flamingos must watch only for predators. If the water levels become low, land predators are able to approach the nests and take eggs and young. Foxes, hyenas and feral pigs are among land predators that will harass flamingo flocks.
Protective Coloration
That flamingos are pink or red to blend with the sunrise and sunset to ward off predators is a century-old idea that has been debunked. In his book, "Concealing-Coloration in the Animal Kingdom," artist and naturalist Abbot Handerson Thayer proposed the theory that flamingos use their coloration to confuse predators by blending with the dawn and dusk skies. This conclusion won him public ridicule by President Teddy Roosevelt in 1911. A flamingo's pink coloration is a coincidence of its diet, not intentional camouflage. Many of Thayer's ideas, however, had merit and are still used today by the military in designing camouflage, including a pink vehicle for use in desert operations.
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