Flamingo Facts: Food Turns Feathers Pink	Flamingos are large birds that are identifiable by their long necks sticklike legs and pink or reddish feathers. Flamingos embody the saying you are what you eat. The pink and reddish colors of a flamingo's feathers come from eating pigments found in algae and invertebrates.  	There are six species of flamingo according to the Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS): greater flamingo lesser flamingo Chilean flamingo Andean flamingo James' (or puna) flamingo and American (or Caribbean) flamingo.  	The greater flamingo is the tallest species. It stands 3.9 to 4.7 feet (1.2 to 1.45 meters) and weighs up to 7.7 lbs. (3.5 kilograms) according to  Sea World. The shortest species is the lesser flamingo which stands 2.6 feet (80 cm) and weighs 5.5 lbs. (2.5 kg). The wingspan of flamingos ranges from 37 inches (95 cm) to 59 inches (150 cm).    	American flamingos  live in the West Indies Yucatán in the northern part of South America and along the Galapagos Islands. Chilean Andean and James' flamingos live in South America and the greater and lesser flamingos live in Africa. Greater flamingos can also be found in the Middle East and India.	Flamingos are water birds so they live in and around lagoons or lakes. These bodies of water tend to be saline or alkaline. Flamingos are generally nonmigratory but changes in climate or water levels in their breeding areas will cause them to relocate according to Sea World.	Flamingos eat larva small insects blue-green and red algae mollusks crustaceans and small fish according to  Sea World. Their tendency to eat both vegetation and meat makes them omnivores.  	Flamingos are pink  because the algae they consume are loaded with beta carotene an organic chemical that contains a reddish-orange pigment. (Beta carotene is also present in many plants but especially in tomatoes spinach pumpkins sweet potato and of course carrots.) The mollusks and crustaceans flamingos snack on contain similar pigment-packing carotenoids.  	Carotenoid levels in their food vary in different parts of the world which is why American flamingos are usually bright red and orange while lesser flamingos of the drought-plagued Lake Nakuru in central Kenya tend to be a paler pink.	If a flamingo were to stop eating food containing carotenoids its new feathers would begin growing in with a much paler shade and its reddish feathers would eventually molt away. Molted feathers lose their pinkish hue.	What a flamingo eats depends on what type of beak it has. Lesser James' and Andean flamingos have what is called a deep-keeled bill. They eat mostly algae. Greater Chilean and American flamingos have shallow-keeled bills which allow them to eat insects invertebrates and small fish.	To eat flamingos will stir up the bottom of the lake with their feet and duck their beaks down into the mud and water to catch their meal.	Groups of flamingos are called colonies or flocks. The colony works together to protect each other from predators and to take care of the young.  	It is believed that flamingos are monogamous according to Sea World. Once they mate they tend to stay with that mate. A group of flamingos will all mate at the same time so that all of the chicks will hatch at the same time. Pairs will make nests out of mounds of mud and the female will lay one egg at a time according to the  Smithsonian National Zoo.	Each egg is a little bigger than a large chicken egg at 3 to 3.5 inches (78 to 90 millimeters) long and 4 to 4.9 ounces (115 to 140 grams). The egg will take 27 to 31 days to hatch and the emerging chick will only be 2.5 to 3.2 ounces (73 to 90 g). Young reach maturity at 3 to 5 years old.  	Baby flamingos are gray or white. They will turn pink within the first couple years of life. Flamingos live 20 to 30 years in the wild or up to 50 years in a zoo.	The taxonomy of flamingos according to ITIS is:	Kingdom: AnimaliaPhylum: Chordata  Class: AvesOrder: Phoenicopteriformes               Family: PhoenicopteridaeGenera:  Phoeniconaias Phoenicoparrus PhoenicopterusSpecies:  	According to International Union for Conservation of Nature's Red List of Threatened Species no flamingo species is currently considered endangered. The  lesser  Chilean  and  James'flamingos are considered near threatened because their numbers are small or decreasing according to the IUCN.	Fossil evidence indicates that the group from which flamingos evolved is very old and existed about 30 million years ago before many other avian orders had evolved according to Sea World.	It isn't really known why flamingos tend to stand on one foot but it has been hypothesized that keeping one of their feet out of the cold water  helps them to conserve body heat. It also seems to be a comfortable resting position for them.  	Though it is believed that flamingos are tropical birds they can also live and thrive in  cold environments  as long as they have access to plenty of water and food.  	In East Africa more than 1 million flamingos have been known to gather together forming the largest flock known according to the  Philadelphia Zoo.