Wildlife
PRETTY IN PINK
Or maybe not... Jake Cleaver shares what he learned about these intriguing birds. And after doing some digging, it seems they are more than just flamboyant Flamingos
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ave you ever seen a flamboyance of Flamingos here in the Algarve and thought to yourself, “Aren’t they supposed to be pink?”. Maybe you even heard somebody say that it’s because they don’t eat enough prawns in their diet, you know, in a “you are what you eat” kind of way. Like how if we eat too many carrots we turn orange and glow in the dark. And like the carrot thing you felt that it sounded a little far-fetched. Well, I’m here to tell you that I looked into it, and it’s actually true. The Flamingo thing at least. I’m not sure about the carrot, however, I’m slightly more convinced now as I found out that the same beta carotene that makes Flamingos pink is found in high levels in carrots too. So, Flamingos are what they eat. But it’s not quite as simple as that.. They do turn pink from eating shrimps, but only if the shrimps have eaten lots of red algae. If there is no red algae around, they can eat all the shrimps they want, and they will still be as white as snow. So actually: they are what they eat - eats.
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There are 6 species of Flamingos in the world. The ones that grace our shores are known, rather immodestly, as the Greater Flamingos. But we’ll let them off, as they are unarguably the largest of all the Flamingos. They can grow up to a considerable 150cm tall, but the most they weigh is a little over 4kg. So, despite their superior size, they can still take to the sky. And they do. Flamingos aren’t native to the Algarve; they are just flashy tourists here from North Africa and the Middle East. In fact, the Algarve only started to become a popular holiday destination for them (and us humans too for that matter) as recently as the 1980’s. However, Portugal is one of the few places they don’t nest. They just come here for their honeymoon, and move along to Spain, Italy, France and sometimes all the way to Turkey to have their babies (maybe the maternity leave deals are better?). But before all that, Flamingos have to find a partner, and they have a great dating ritual. First off, they secrete some sort of preening oil. Where from isn’t clear, nobody would tell me, maybe I don’t want to know? But it’s filled with the
September 2020
