Our earth has a rich diversity of both flora and fauna. But among the wide range of animals available on earth, some can withstand truly extreme climatic conditions and environmental attributes. One such animal is flamingoes. Flamingo Can Drink Boiling Water
Belonging to the family of birds, Flamingos (the wandering birds) are considered to be under order Phoenicopteriformes. They are native animals of Asia, Africa, and Europe. Also, they can be found in different regions of the Americas and Caribbean. Let us learn more about their unique characteristics and features through this article.
Nomenclature and Taxonomy.
This unique bird has got its name from Spanish Flamingo (color of flame) with a mesh of Provençal flamenco and Germanic sound such as adding a suffix (ing). On the other hand, the generic terminology Phoenicoparrus means the crimson red-colored unknown bird of Omen).
It is observed that the family Phoenicopteridae was made familiar to us by Charles Lucien Bonaparte, a French zoologist in 1831. He included Phoenicopterus as the genus subclassification. Along with this family, the birds with long legs named Ciconiiformes are similar paraphyletic assemblage that is observed as its closest relatives in the same order.
Other attributes
Many reasons make flamingos different from others. A few of them are mentioned as follows:
- The logic behind standing on one leg: Flamingos tend to stand on a single leg with the other one hidden down in the body. Eventhough this behavior is not yet understood, there are some theories related to it. On such theory reveals that standing in such a way these birds can conserve more of their body’s heat while wading in cold water for hours. Another theory says that standing in this position allows these birds to lower the energy outflow for generating muscular power to stand.
- Flamingos are capable to fly, often requiring wing clippings to avoid spurt.
- The young-aged flamingos usually hatch with greyish red feathers whereas the adults may vary from pink to bright-red colour to bacteria and beta-carotene.
- A healthy flamingo is dazzlingly colored whereas the white flamingos are considered as malfunctioned with certain disorders.
- The greatest height among different species of flamingos varies from 4-4.7 feet with a total weight of up to 3.5 kg.
- On the other hand, the shortest being observed with 2.6 feet with a weight of 2.5 kg.
Ability to withstand extreme climates (including boiling water).
Many of the species of flamingos do live in regions with typical high concentrations of salts. In such cases, the single source to get them freshwater is the water from geysers i.e, boiling water. Hence they become adaptable to sustain over that water. Flamingos are therefore able o drink water reaching truly high temperatures. However, they excrete out salt via their body waste and sal glands present in their nostrils while living in high salt conditions. Other important attributes of flamingos are:
- Flamingos can respire with their lungs like all other birds. Also, they are capable of holding their breath underwater while feeding themselves.
- While resting, the flamingos may sit down with their legs hidden down their abdomen and sanding over the single leg.
- These birds face into the wind while taking rest. This way helps them save from entering wind and rain to their feathers.
- Flamingos can sway back and forth while resting on one leg. Flamingo Can Drink Boiling Water
