These flamingos pale by feeding their little ones

A pink flamingo does not come into the world with the brilliant plumage associated with the species. The young is grey, and its beak does not yet have the shape that will allow it to filter its food like an adult. At first, it depends on a meal prepared in the body of his parents.

Both the male and female produce a secretion from their upper digestive tract, often called jabot milk. It is not milk made by breasts. This liquid feeds the chick for a period when it cannot yet fully adopt the adult diet. The parental plumage can then fade sharply, until it becomes very clear.

Adults regain their color when the young person becomes independent and this feeding phase ends. Contrast offers another way to look at a colony: a less pink bird is not necessarily an intruder. Her figure can tell of a stage of reproduction, during which part of what usually colors her body helps to feed her offspring.