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Flamingos are not born pink. Their chicks hatch grey, and the adults' pink comes from pigments in the algae and tiny shrimp they eat.

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The story behind the card

The pigments are carotenoids, the same family that colours carrots and tomatoes. Flamingos filter tiny algae, brine shrimp and other small creatures from shallow, salty water, and enzymes in the liver turn the carotenoids into the pinks and reds laid down in growing feathers. Chicks take a few years to reach full adult colour. The amount of pigment in the diet shows: American flamingos of the Caribbean are the reddest, while the lesser flamingo is much paler. Parents feed their chick a pigment-rich 'crop milk' made in the throat, and often fade while doing so. In zoos, flamingos are given carotenoid supplements; without them they gradually turn pale.

Türkçe oku
Flamingolar pembe doğmaz. Yavrular yumurtadan gri çıkar; yetişkinlerin pembesi, yedikleri alglerdeki ve minik karideslerdeki pigmentlerden gelir.

Bu pigmentler karotenoidlerdir; havucu ve domatesi renklendiren maddelerle aynı ailedendir. Flamingolar sığ ve tuzlu sulardan minik algleri, tuzlu su karideslerini ve başka küçük canlıları süzerek beslenir. Karaciğerdeki enzimler karotenoidleri pembe ve kırmızı tonlara dönüştürür; bu renkler de yeni çıkan tüylere yerleşir. Yavruların yetişkin rengine kavuşması birkaç yıl sürer. Besindeki pigment miktarı renge doğrudan yansır: Karayipler'deki Amerika flamingoları en kırmızı olanlardır, küçük flamingo ise çok daha soluktur. Anne ve baba yavrularını boğazlarında ürettikleri, pigment bakımından zengin “kursak sütüyle” besler ve bu dönemde kendi renkleri solabilir. Hayvanat bahçelerinde flamingolara karotenoid takviyesi verilir; verilmezse yavaş yavaş solarlar.

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