Flamingo Coloring Pages are fascinating illustrations of birds and a way of manifesting imagination for a child. Children get to know the external features of these unusual birds with long legs and necks, learn to draw contours, learn more about the diversity of nature. Coloring flamingo black and white pictures develops children’s imagination and fine motor skills. Download the coloring book and color with the young flamingo artist with colored pencils or paints.
Flamingo is a large waterfowl of the flaming family, average body length is 140 centimeters, wingspan is 120-160 centimeters, weight is 2000-4500 grams.
Flamingo birds have a unique body structure and plumage color. Flamingos are sociable wading birds, usually 90 to 150 centimeters tall with a barrel-shaped belly and a long, strongly arched neck. The head of a flamingo is small with a large massive beak, strongly curved downward in the middle part. Birds move on long stilt legs. The female flamingo is smaller than the male. The feather color is the same for birds of different sexes. The color scheme includes shades of pink – from white to burgundy. The legs of most bird species are yellow. Flight feathers and beak tip are black.
What affects the color of the bird
The name is Flamingo (from the Portuguese and Spanish words “flamengo”), which means “fiery”. The genus name Phoenicopterus (from the Greek word “phoinikopteros”) means “blood with red feathers.” The color of the feathers and legs of the bird is obvious – pink. But not everyone knows why it happened so. Newborn chicks of flamingos are gray with black legs and straight black beaks. Flamingos change color to pink during the first two years of life. The birds acquired this color of feathers and limbs thanks to beta-carotene.
Flamingos are omnivores that eat blue-green algae, insects, sea shrimp, crustaceans, and molluscs. Their food contains the natural pigment beta-carotene, which turns birds’ legs and feathers pink. Bright color is achieved due to lipochromes, fat-like dyes, which enter the bird’s body along with crustaceans and algae. In the lakes where such “food” lives, the water becomes pale pink. If the bird does not feed on crayfish, then the pigment will not stand out – the color will turn white. In zoos, flamingos are fed carrots, which contain the yellow-orange plant pigment beta-carotene, which adds yellow-orange tones to the color.
- Flamingo is depicted on the coat of arms of the Bahamas.
- The ancient Egyptians believed that flamingos grants wishes.
- Flamingos are one of the oldest birds living on earth. The discovered remains of fossil flamingos are 30 million years old.
- Flamingos do not breathe during the meal.
- In flight, the flock develops a speed of up to 65 kilometers per hour.
- The closest relative of flamingos is the goose.
- In totemism, the flamingo bird is a symbol of free expression of emotions. Flamingos also symbolize balance, openness to others, an open heart, family, caring for family and relationships. Flamingos also symbolize new experiences and the importance of belonging to society.
Flamingos are surprisingly graceful in color, from the simplest white, to amazing dark pink. Since ancient times, people have considered flamingos a fabulous bird, a creature from an unrealizable and beautiful dream. In nature, there are not many such beautiful spectacles as the simultaneous rise of a half-million flock of flamingos.
The flamingo has the longest neck and the longest legs, of course, relative to the size of the body. These birds feed in shallow water. They bend their necks so that their beaks are inverted.
The edges of the beak are provided with small corneous plates and denticles. With their help, the flamingo filters out tiny remains of plants, small frogs and other animals from the water. To get enough, the bird must eat about a quarter of its own weight per day. It is due to the substances contained in the food that the feathers of flamingos turn pink. If there are not enough substances, the color fades, and when there are none at all, the bird becomes off-white.
Flamingos live mainly in Africa, Kenya. But they are also in the south of Europe, Asia, on the island of Madagascar and in South America. Flamingos live in huge colonies along the shores of large lakes. Caribbean pink flamingos build very peculiar nests. These are cones made of clay with a cut off top. They are from 7 to 45 centimeters high. Each cone has a recess where the female lays one single egg. Both parents incubate it for 28-32 days, and then feed the chick, regurgitating a special bright red liquid. In terms of nutritional value, it is not inferior to milk and thanks to it chicks grow very quickly. Parents always distinguish their chick by its special squeak, even from thousands of exactly the same ones, and will not feed someone else, no matter how much he resembles their own.
The lifespan of these birds under natural conditions is not known. But in captivity, they live up to 30 years. This longevity, compared to the average lifespan of most birds, looks very impressive. But even more striking is that flamingos, seemingly very fragile, have been living on earth for several million years. So, more recently, fossil remains of this bird, 30 million years old, were discovered. Scientists claim that these birds were found even earlier and their ancestors saw dinosaurs.
Flamingo coloring page will showcase one of the most beautiful birds on the planet. Colonies of these birds are found on almost all continents where there are small bodies of water or bays. Calmly moving on the water on their long legs, they easily find food for themselves – small fish, crustaceans and other medium-sized plankton. A massive beak and flexible neck will only help with this. These creatures of nature have a unique plumage color: from white-pink to bright red. But since flamingo birds are depicted in the coloring not only in single versions, but also in the bosom of nature, children will need the whole palette of colors.