Узнав, что фламинго - птица, многие испытывают surprise. This is a very beautiful word. But when you see this bird with your own eyes, you stop doubting that this name suits her. The word "flamingo" means "red feather." And it is right. After all, the representatives of this family have red or bright pink feathers with a black border around the edges, which is visible only at the moment of flight.
How does it look?
Flamingo - a bird, a brief description of which youfind in this article. Seeing her once, you will not confuse her with any other. These birds have a long neck and legs. Moreover, the neck is often tired, and they lay their head on the body to give slack muscles to rest. A large beak consists of cornified particles. It is folded in such a way that it is convenient for them to catch food from the water. The peculiarity of the flamingo mouth apparatus is that its upper jaw is mobile, not the lower jaw. Flamingo is a bird that reaches a height of 90 to 135 cm and has a wingspan of 140-165 centimeters. Males are larger than females. An unforgettable impression is the coloring of feathers. Especially beautiful is pink flamingo. The bird, which even devote songs and poems. The color of her feathers depends on the food she eats. Pink color is given by carotenoids contained in small crustaceans. The more a bird eats them, the brighter its color will be.
How does it feed?
Строение фламинго специально приспособлено для the way of life that the bird leads. Long legs with membranes rake the bottom of the shallow water from which it feeds. Hard beak filters water, for this purpose there are bony protrusions on its edges. Flamingo is a bird that eats very small food, and in order not to swallow a large amount of water, it is engaged in filtering, as a result of which the water collected in the beak flows back, and the food remains. To get food, she completely lowers her head in the water. Interestingly, the language of flamingos was eaten in ancient Rome. A dish of it was considered a delicacy. But this muscular organ helps the birds pump water into their mouths. What do flamingos eat? The answer is simple - everything that falls into their beak. After all, they do not have the opportunity to spit out something that they do not like. Therefore, in their stomachs they find silt, small fish, small crustaceans, mollusks. Flamingo - a bird that lives in a team. But during the meal, she will violently defend her territory.
The secret is revealed
Members of the flamingo family have otherfeatures of behavior. For example, they like to stand on one leg. And it is noticed that they do it mainly in water. Scientists estimate that the period of standing on one leg can be about one hour. Surely, you wondered why the waterfowl are attracted to this position. The fact of the matter is that birds improve their thermoregulation. In simple terms, they are pressing their paws to keep warm. It’s not so easy to stand in cold water for a long time. They fly, stretching their legs to their full length, and in flight make sounds similar to goose claws. Flamingo is a beautiful bird. A pack of these creatures looks wonderful, consisting of thousands of individuals. But flamingos do not come together to show off.
Time to breed
В большой колонии легче предупредить друг друга о the appearance of a predator and find a life partner. Interestingly, in a large flock of birds reproduce better. Flamingos are attracted to the female by ritual movement. If the female is interested, she begins to repeat the movement for the male. Flamingo can be considered a model of loyalty. After all, these birds often create one pair for life and breed chicks together. During the mating period, adults gather near the source of fresh water. They begin their ritual movements, trying to show the size and beauty of plumage. Flamingos straighten and stretch their wings and try to touch the beaks and tips of the wings of other nearby birds. Scientists have noticed that this is done by both males and females. And the observer from the side will not be able to determine the sex of the birds. After all, they have the same color. Females repeat movements for males. If the pair liked each other, the female begins to move away from the team, continuing to make movements that lure the male. The male will begin to wiggle and follow his lady of the heart to continue the race.
My house
Flamingos can breed at any time of the year.Although they prefer to do it at the beginning of summer. During this period the water is warmer, and there are more opportunities to create a nest and get food. Nest these birds are built of clay. It is a hill with a depression in the middle, in which the female will lay an egg. In order to make a litter, flamingos use branches, feathers and leaves. The female lays one milk-white egg. Incubation involved both partners. When one of them is sitting on a nest, the other gets his own food. Chicks are born in 28-32 days. And although furry babies are born with open eyes, they cannot feed themselves and cannot fly. In the nest chicks are 5-8 days. Toddlers contact with "children" from other nests. Parents distinguish their offspring by the sounds that they make. This is provided by an interesting natural mechanism. The fact is that small birds start to make sounds while still in the egg. Parents get used to them and recognize babies when they are born.
This is not a myth
But the chicks also recognize their parents by the voice thatthey hear at a distance of 100 meters. They approach them, having caught a special call. In flamingos, it is not customary to feed alien chicks. If parents do not do this, then the baby will die of hunger. It turns out that bird's milk is not fiction. It is with this drink that flamingos feed their chicks. And it is very similar in composition to human, and is produced by the hormone prolactin. Only chicks, of course, do not feed like the young mammals. Bird's milk is extracted from a special nutrient secret, which is located in the beak of an adult bird. It is noteworthy that it is not white, but red. Together with him, the first pigments enter the body of the chick, which paint its feathers pink.
Need to save
Yes, flamingo - the bird The Red Book of which, toUnfortunately, it already has an entry on its pages. In our time, there is a struggle for their preservation. From whom do we need to protect these creatures? In their natural habitat, they have predatory enemies that not only hunt adult individuals, but also destroy their eggs. And it is not only foxes, badgers, hyenas, baboons, wild boars, but also Turkish vultures and yellow gulls. Also the enemy of the flamingo is man. He eats the eggs and meat of these beautiful birds. And also uses feathers that have an unusual color.
Kinds
Flamingo - a bird, a brief description of which youfound in this article. I would like to mention that in their genus there are six species that have minor differences from each other. Andean flamingo has a height of 120 centimeters and a white-pink plumage with black wing wings. He has yellow paws. The red flamingo has red plumage, although it may be bright pink. Pink flamingo - the largest among their fellows. His height may be 135 centimeters. His feathers are pale pink. The wings are red with black feathers. The small flamingo has a small height, only about 90 centimeters. His feathers are light or dark pink. The shape of the beak is slightly different. The flamingo of James is almost the same size and color, but he has a bright yellow beak with a black tip.
Here she is, a flamingo bird.Description for children can be somewhat simplified. But they must learn about one of the most beautiful birds of our planet, and why it has such a coloring.
