My Favorite Things #2 Flamingoes

FLAMINGOS

Our church held a fund raiser for the youth group.  If someone paid $20 they could nominate a family to have their yard "flocked".  My friend had our house flocked with these pink plastic flamingos.  Then we had our friends and neighbors flocked too.  It was really fun to do and a huge surprise, to us, when we found all the flamingos on our lawn. 

Since when are flamingos blue?  Amazing what photo editors can do.

The beautiful color of Flamingoes (and a number of other colorful birds) is acquired from their diet. The small crustaceans and algae that the flamingoes eat contain carotinoid and other natural pigments that are processed in the body and deposited in the growing feathers. (Carotene is one of the most common carotinoid pigments and is what makes Carrots and other vegetables orange in color.) Only specific red chemical compounds will color Flamingoes. This means that you can't turn a Flamingo blue by feeding it blue colored food. At the zoo we add a product called Roxanthin Red to their food. This is what gives Flamingoes their bright "Pink" color.

-from the Honolulu Zoo

Flamingo Painting

Of course we can't forget Alice in Wonderland and the flamingo used as a croquet mallet.

Alice and Flamingo T-Shirt-  I want this shirt.