The greater flamingo or the Phoenicopterus ruber, as it is scientifically referred to, is a singular looking bird that can be easily identified by its brilliant pink plumage (sometimes with shades of crimson in it as well), pink legs, and down-turned bill. Although they are predominantly pink, greater flamingoes also have black on the tip of their bills and in their flight feathers.

If you’ve wondered why greater flamingoes are that peculiar shade of pink, here’s why. It’s because of the kind of diet they have. Flamingoes survive on mollusks, crustaceans, blue-green algae, and other invertebrates, which contain carotenids. When the carotenoids are metabolized by the liver, they break down into pink and orange pigments which are deposited on various parts of the body, such as the bill, feathers, and legs of the bird.

Where do flamingos live? Well, they usually live in environs that have lots of water and mud, like lakes or lagoons. Some of the places you are most likely to spot flamingos are tidal flats, mangrove swamps, and sandy islands. The depth of the water is very important to flamingoes since it aids not just in feeding but also in nesting.

Speaking of eating, the bill of the flamingo plays a very important role in the food gathering process. The thick down-turned bill helps in capturing food and filtering water. In fact, the keratinous plates called lamellae that line the insides of the bill, work in a manner similar to baleen filtration seen in some whales. Think of them as strainers that remove the food particles from the water.

Flamingoes live in colonies all around the year and one colony can have tens of thousands of tens of thousands of flamingos. They are capable of mating by the time they are six years old, and while there is no specific season for mating, it does appear to be related in some way to the rains. The breeding within the colony is synchronized to happen at the same time.

Flamingoes don’t nest every year and when they do, they lay a single large white egg. The nest, built of small stones, mud and feathers, resembles the shape of a volcano and can sometimes be as high as 12 inches. A pair of flamingoes will usually take about six weeks to build their nest, after which both parents take turns at incubating the egg for over four weeks.

Newly hatched chicks are not pink; rather they have white or gray down feathers. They also don’t have the down-turned bill; instead, it is straight and red in color. Parents are able to recognize their chicks by the sound of their voice. In about a week’s time, sometimes less, the chicks are ready to leave their nest. Once they do, all the fledglings are organized into a group, sort of like a crèche, where some adult birds take on the responsibility of teaching the young flamingo essential life skills.