© Wilfredo Rodríguez

Flamingos are long-legged wading birds that are usually covered in bright pink feathers. With a name that derives from the Spanish or Portuguese word meaning “flame-colored,” the birds are known for their vibrant appearance. Though it is their most-famous quality, the pink of the flamingo’s feathers is not a hereditary trait. The birds are in fact born a dull gray. So, if it’s not a part of their DNA, why do these birds take on shades of pink and red?

For flamingos, the phrase “You are what you eat” holds more truth than it might for humans. The bright pink color of flamingos comes from beta carotene, a red-orange pigment that’s found in high numbers within the algae, larvae, and brine shrimp that flamingos eat in their wetland environment. In the digestive system, enzymes break down carotenoids into pigments that are absorbed by fats in the liver and deposited, for flamingos, in the feathers and skin. To actually color the physical attributes, carotenoids must be ingested in very large amounts. Because the flamingo diet is nearly exclusively carotenoid-filled delicacies, the birds have no problem coloring themselves. A human, on the other hand, would need to eat quite a lot of carrots (a food heavy in carotenoids, which also gives the substance its name) to turn a shade of orange.

There are four different species of flamingos, all of which are native to South America. However, these different species and even smaller populations of flamingos live in separate areas of the continent. Because of this, flamingo colors differ on the basis of their location and the food available. Some flamingos are darker or brighter shades of pink; some contain tints of orange and red; and others are pure white.