The Schnoz
by Dick Botkin
Title
The Schnoz
Artist
Dick Botkin
Medium
Photograph
Description
With their bright feathers and strongly hooked bills, flamingos are among the most easily recognized waterbirds. Their pink or reddish color comes from the rich sources of carotenoid pigments (like the pigments of carrots) in the algae and small crustaceans that the birds eat. The Caribbean flamingos Phoenicopterus ruber ruber are the brightest, showing their true colors of red, pink, or orange on their legs, bills, and faces.
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Long legs let flamingos wade into deeper water than most other birds to look for food. And speaking of food, the flamingo also has very distinctive eating habits. The bill is held upside down in the water. The flamingo feeds by sucking water and mud in at the front of its bill and then pumping it out again at the sides. Here, briny plates called lamellae act like tiny filters, trapping shrimp and other small water creatures for the flamingo to eat.
Uploaded
February 4th, 2013
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