Page 87 - An Anthology of Intriguing Animals (DK)
P. 87
Flamingo
I magine turning the color of your favorite food! Flamingos
turn pink from eating pink shrimp or plantlike algae every
day. Their fiery feathers made people in Ancient Egypt think they
were a symbol of their sun god, Ra. The Egyptians even used a
picture of the bird to mean the word “red.”
A forest of legs in the shallow lakes of South America’s Andes
mountains probably belongs to a group of Chilean flamingos.
These birds breed in large groups. When they are ready, they
build a volcano-shaped nest from sticky brown mud. A single egg
is laid on top. Once hatched, flamingo parents feed their fluffy
chick with milk made in their throats. This milk is also pink!
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