Pigments, called carotenoids, give flamingos their pink color. This color comes from the food that they consume. At Riverbanks, the flamingos are fed a specific formulated pellet that provides these pigments to turn our birds a healthy, vibrant pink.
- Diet:
- American flamingos are opportunistic and consume blue-green algae, brine shrimp, insect larvae, and other small aquatic invertebrates.
- Habitat:
- Mudflats, salty shallow lakes, and lagoons through the Caribbean Sea, northern coasts of South America and the Galapagos Islands.