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    Phoenicopterus – Greater Flamingos

    These birds derive their beautiful pinkish color from the food they eat

    This genus has three species that look pretty similar to one another with their beautiful pink-colored feathers that have a mellow off-whitish tinge to them and to their marvelous beaks that act as filters so that they can sieve through the water to catch their prey.

    They can be easily found in estuaries, mudflats, and salt lakes worldwide.

    Usually, they are generalist species; they eat anything they can get their beaks on but prefer eating invertebrates like brine shrimp, fly larvae, small snails, etc. Their pink color comes from the carotenoids that they end up ingesting while eating brine shrimp and other algae, and naturally, the flamingoes are born white.

    This genus was initially described by the famed naturalist Carl Linnaeus.