The bird’s specialized anatomy, clever posture, and gravity combine to give the flamingo this ability, which does not involve bones locking into position. The findings show that a “passively engaged gravitational stay apparatus” helps the birds support their weight and maintain balance while on one reed-thin leg. They also used two cadaver birds from the Birmingham Zoo and flamingo skeletons from the Museum of Paleontology at the University of California, Berkeley. Watch: To fly in wind gusts, birds deform their wingsįor the new study, published in Biology Letters, the researchers studied live birds at the Zoo Atlanta flock, one of the largest breeding flocks of Chilean flamingos in the US. Previous research has suggested that flamingos engage in this behavior to avoid muscle fatigue or to conserve body heat. It’s precisely from these extreme examples in nature where you can really gain a lot of insight.” Flamingos aren’t the only birds that stand on one leg, but “the extreme example is the flamingo. “There’s something to be said for just scientific curiosity and learning how nature works,” Chang says. The findings could have potential applications for better robotics, orthopedic braces, artificial limbs, and more focused treatments for neurological or balance problems.īut the researchers argue that simply providing clarity to long-standing questions about long-standing flamingos has value as well. They discovered the reason differs from most previous suggestions: it’s all about reducing muscular effort. “It’s a natural question.”īecause science has yet to provide a definitive answer, Chang and Lena Ting, professor of biomedical engineering at Emory University and Georgia Tech who studies balance control in humans and mammals, decided to find out. “Anytime I go to the zoo, I always hear a kid ask why or how they do that,” says Young-Hui Chang, a professor of biological sciences at Georgia Institute of Technology, who studies locomotion in animals from both a neurological and a biomechanical perspective. New research shows how flamingos bear all that weight for seemingly endless periods of time. Try standing on one leg for any length of time and most of us would at least wobble. The "official" pink flamingo is from Union Products.University Georgia Institute of Technology Don Featherstone of Massachusetts invented the pink plastic lawn flamingo, gracing lawns since 1957. There are more plastic flamingos in America than there are real ones.Other significant threats to flamingos in the wild include predators, illegal poaching for their feathers, and hunting for their eggs or tongues as a delicacy.The Andean flamingo is the most threatened of all flamingo species due to the loss of its habitat.With veterinary care, a regular diet, and fewer predatory threats, flamingos can live up to 50 years in captivity. Flamingos have a lifespan of 20 to 30 years in the wild.While flamingos are classified as wading birds, like herons, egrets, spoonbills, and cranes, they are genetically closer to grebes, an aquatic diving waterfowl.Flamingos are found worldwide from the Caribbean and South America to Africa, the Middle East, and Europe in wet habitats from freshwater to saltwater, including mudflats, lakes, coastal lagoons, and marshlands.Many flamingos migrate or regularly fly between the best food sources and nesting grounds. Flamingos are strong but rare swimmers and powerful fliers.The bird's knee is close to the body and not visible through the bird's plumage. The backward bending "knee" of a flamingo's leg is the bird's ankle.They will alternate legs to regulate their body temperature. Flamingos often stand on one leg to preserve body heat, tucking the other leg into their warm plumage. An adult flamingo's legs can be 30- to 50-inches long-longer than its entire body.The lesser flamingo is the smallest, reaching 3-feet tall and typically 3 to 6 pounds. The greater flamingo is the largest flamingo species and can measure up to 5-feet tall when standing erect with its head raised.It can take up to three years to achieve mature pink, orange, or red plumage. Flamingo chicks are born gray or white with fluffier plumage to keep them warm.A wild flamingo's diet includes shrimp, plankton, algae, and crustaceans. Carotene is the same pigment that makes tomatoes red and carrots orange. Pink, orange, or red feathers are caused by carotene in their food.
The word "flamingo" comes from the Spanish and Latin word "flamenco," meaning fire, referring to those birds that get fiery-colored feathers (not all do).The Spruce Home Improvement Review Board.
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