The flamingo is a large wading bird named for its beautiful red feathers. Most flamingos are found in South America and Africa, while the rest are found in Asia and Europe. Their favorite habitats are saltwater lakes, estuarine lagoons with sparse vegetation, and the seashore. Curiously, as early as 2011, several flamingos actually used the airport runway as the water surface and landed at Urumqi Diwopu Airport. This is their third visit to Urumqi. In September 1997, the Hami Forestry Department captured a flamingo at the Hami Second Battery. At the time, it was thought that flamingos had accidentally passed through Urumqi. In early November 1997, due to climate change, a flock of flamingos (about 10 birds) flew to the outskirts of Urumqi, and one of them was caught because of his injuries (the specimen was kept at the Institute of Epidemiology).
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > four different from birds</h1>
The flamingo is a large wading bird similar in size to a stork, about 106 cm tall and with a wingspan of 150 cm. Males are slightly larger than females and have their mouths curved downwards. The upper mouth is flat and thin, covering the lower mouth like eyelids. The neck has 19 vertebrae that can be flexibly rotated and bent. Flamingos have long, thin legs and can walk leisurely in the water in search of food. Flamingos are covered with red feathers, and some flamingos have black feathers. They look beautiful. There is fossil evidence that flamingos diverged as early as 30 million years ago, much earlier than most birds.
However, the classification of flamingos has plagued ornithologists for years. Depending on the flamingo's bone structure, egg albumin, and life habits, flamingos can be associated with many different birds. For example, flamingos have pelvic and rib structures similar to those of cranes, and ovalbumin has a similar composition to that of herons. Small flamingos behave very similarly to geese, with adult birds with fins and waterproof feathers. Later, ornithologists divided flamingos into a separate order, flamingos. Even though they are small, they can see birds in the water.
Brilliant evolution has made the flamingo unique. In order to walk on the shoals, they need long, thin legs and longer necks, because only then can they reach the ground to feed. To prevent the soles of the feet from sinking into the mud, a thin film (mesh) is formed between the toes. In order to improve the effect of water filtration and mud filtering, a curved nozzle is designed. Flamingos are unique in the bird world, using the upper part of their mouth rather than the lower part to absorb as much water as possible. The thin tongue can move back and forth like a piston, quickly sucking in the turbid water, squeezing the water out through the side filter, leaving only what can be swallowed, that is, filtered food. Flamingos eat a quarter of their body weight every day.
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > the mystery of standing on one leg</h1>
Whether living in a zoo or in the wild, flamingos have the same characteristics: most of the time, they always stand on one leg and bend the other leg under the body. This means that standing on one leg is a natural habit of flamingos, not the result of pressure on the zoo environment. There are many theories that attempt to explain this phenomenon.
One theory is that flamingos stand on one leg to save energy. Some ornithologists believe that flamingos also stand on one leg when they sleep, and their brains are half asleep and half awake to maintain balance in their bodies. Bending one leg under the body is to conserve body heat, as this minimizes the area of the skin exposed to the air. Alternating legs also allows the legs to rest and promote blood circulation in the legs. This theory of blood circulation is accepted by many scientists. Flamingos' long legs require a strong circulatory system to support blood flow from the heart to the whole body, especially when the flamingo stands in cold water, and the heart is forced to deliver blood to the legs to maintain body temperature. So bending one leg under the body can reduce the burden on the heart.
Another theory is that standing on one leg can help flamingos camouflage themselves — one leg looks like a reed or a blade of grass. But opponents argue that flamingos prey on small crustaceans and shellfish, and that they don't need to disguise themselves when they prey. Flamingos, whose bodies are strikingly pink, are unlikely to succeed in camouflaging as reeds or blades of grass.
There is also a theory that flamingos stand on one leg to speed up when attacked. If that's the case, a flamingo standing on one foot should fly faster than a flamingo standing on two legs. However, some researchers measured the time it took for the two to stand still and start running, suggesting that this was not the case. In addition, studies have shown that flamingos do not stand on one leg in a windy environment to maintain balance. Like many mysteries in nature, the flamingo's signature movement, the mystery of standing on one leg, has yet to be answered.
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > interesting reproduction</h1>
Flamingos laying eggs is fun. They first build high mud piles in shallow water, then build a nest on the mound and then lay eggs in the nest. Nests are generally 50–150 cm above the water surface. The newly hatched chick has a straight mouth, a white fluff all over its body, and gray-black legs. It was lovely. After a few months, the baby flamingo gradually grows up, with a curved mouth, a change in fur color, and a change in the color of its legs from gray-black to red.
Flamingos' proud, curved beaks do not appear until two weeks after birth, and chicks are fed by their parents for two months. Like whales, flamingo parents feed their young with a liquid secretion called bird milk, but this milk is red, secreted by special glands of the esophagus, rich in fat and protein, mixed with blood and small amounts of plankton. Not only female flamingos, but also male flamingos can feed their babies. Like penguins, flamingos also have "kindergartens". When parents go out to forage, the flamingo "nanny" on duty is responsible for taking care of the birds. The number of chicks in such a community can reach 200. But the parents of flamingos can quickly recognize their children through their voices. Flamingos only mature at 2-3 years of age. They have a long lifespan of up to 70-80 years, hence the name long-lived birds.
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > the mystery of discoloration</h1>
Flamingos are born with grey or white plumage. As the flamingo ages, its plumage will turn pink in color. Moreover, this pink color usually changes from dark to light and sometimes back to white. Why have flamingos' feathers changed so much?
Through years of research, scientists have finally solved the mystery of the flamingo's feather discoloration. They found that whether adult flamingos grow pink or white depends entirely on what they eat. In the main food of flamingo algae crustaceans such as cyanobacteria and parotid glands, there is a pigment called carotenoids. Enzymes in flamingo liver break down carotenoids into pink and orange pigment particles. These particles are stored on flamingos' feathers, beaks and legs, giving them a beautiful color. Some flamingos eat algae directly, and their body color is bright and beautiful; some flamingos eat small animals that feed on algae, and their body color is relatively dull. Adult flamingos feed their chicks with red "milk."< In fact, the secret of red "milk" is that it contains canophanin (a type of carotenoid), so the color presented is red. Chicks store these pigments in their livers, and when they grow up, they transfer to their feathers and turn into a beautiful red.
For the opposite sex, the flamingo's brightly colored feathers mean it is healthy and nutritious, because only then can it have leisure and enough time to dress up more beautifully. If paired with such an object, it should be able to increase the chances of reproductive success. The researchers did find that brightly colored flamingos began breeding earlier than dark flamingos, and the earlier they started breeding, the better the breeding site.