Flamingo Fun
by Kathy White
Title
Flamingo Fun
Artist
Kathy White
Medium
Photograph - Photography--greeting Cards Or Notes Are Cheaper By The Dozen!
Description
Flamingo Fun is a photograph that I enjoyed shooting because I got a kick out of this flamingo having so much fun in the water! Water just flew everywhere as she bathed and frolicked in the cool water. But I am reading now that she may have been feeding...."To eat, flamingos will stir up the bottom of the lake with their feet and duck their beaks down into the mud and water to catch their meal." Depending on their beak and their species, some eat mostly algae....while others eat insects, invertebrates and small fish. Their tendency to eat both vegetation and meat makes them omnivores. So, whichever she was doing, she was enjoying it and having a lot of "Flamingo Fun!"
Flamingos are large birds that are identifiable by their long necks, sticklike legs and pink or reddish feathers. Flamingos embody the saying "you are what you eat." The pink and reddish colors of a flamingo's feathers come from eating pigments found in algae and invertebrates. Flamingos are pink because the algae they consume are loaded with beta carotene, an organic chemical that contains a reddish-orange pigment.
There are six species of flamingo, according to the Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS): greater flamingo, lesser flamingo, Chilean flamingo, Andean flamingo, James' (or puna) flamingo and American (or Caribbean) flamingo. This particular species is a Chilean flamingo, according to the zoo where we saw them. Baby flamingos are gray or white. They will turn pink within the first couple years of life. Flamingos live 20 to 30 years in the wild or up to 50 years in a zoo. The Chilean flamingos are considered near threatened because their numbers are small or decreasing, according to the IUCN.
Uploaded
May 2nd, 2017
Statistics
Viewed 269 Times - Last Visitor from Fairfield, CT on 03/28/2024 at 7:18 PM
Embed
Share
Sales Sheet
Comments (6)
Deb Halloran
Hi Kathy, What a beautiful action capture....so colorful with wonderful detail. This Flamingo looks like it was enjoying its time in the water. I enjoyed reading your description....nicely done. L/F
Kathy White replied:
Thank you so much Deb Halloran! We appreciate your comments and visit to our page!