Caribbean flamingos (Phoenicopterus ruber), Ria Lagartos Biosphere Reserve, Yucatan, Gulf of Mexico
We now reach the high point of the boat trip and Rio Lagartos's "unique selling point" -- the further reaches of the lagoon, where there are flamingos. February is a little too early for nesting in this population. But courtship has started. It consists of stretching the neck and head upwards by males to impress (females are the same colour but smaller than males). A brief display of the contrasting colours of outstretched wings is also offered.
The local Mayans paint the town pink in celebration of the flamingos, but the Caribbean species is, as can be seen, not pink, but a rich scarlet in colour. Pink or red, the pigmentation comes from their consumption of large quantities of brine shrimp in these highly saline waters. They also eat the algae on which the shrimp feed. Both organisms are rich in beta-carotene, the compound which gives carrots their colour. Take the beta-carotene from their diet, and flamingos become white.
Caribbean flamingos breed on several Caribbean islands, in northern South America, on the Yucatan Peninsula and in Florida.
240215 265
Kubaflamingo
Caribbean flamingos (Phoenicopterus ruber), Ria Lagartos Biosphere Reserve, Yucatan, Gulf of Mexico
We now reach the high point of the boat trip and Rio Lagartos's "unique selling point" -- the further reaches of the lagoon, where there are flamingos. February is a little too early for nesting in this population. But courtship has started. It consists of stretching the neck and head upwards by males to impress (females are the same colour but smaller than males). A brief display of the contrasting colours of outstretched wings is also offered.
The local Mayans paint the town pink in celebration of the flamingos, but the Caribbean species is, as can be seen, not pink, but a rich scarlet in colour. Pink or red, the pigmentation comes from their consumption of large quantities of brine shrimp in these highly saline waters. They also eat the algae on which the shrimp feed. Both organisms are rich in beta-carotene, the compound which gives carrots their colour. Take the beta-carotene from their diet, and flamingos become white.
Caribbean flamingos breed on several Caribbean islands, in northern South America, on the Yucatan Peninsula and in Florida.
240215 265
Kubaflamingo