Phoenix Flight (Flamingo Flock Flight Frenzy)
The Greater Flamingoes (Phoenicopterus roseus) that were congregated at Pulicat Lake near SHAR Road took off yesterday (29-Dec-2019) evening to render this video.
These pinkish flamingo flock grazes in the waters near the horizon, submerging their inverted heads, keeping their distance from humans. Their white bodies tipped with black feathers (primaries and secondaries) appear to be grayish from a distance, as though it is ash in the horizon. Moreover, to prove that they are ashes, their pink bodies appear as a flaming fire in the distance. Moreover, juveniles grazing here and there are totally grey or part -white-part-grey in shade.
Suddenly, when they don't get enough food in the waters that they are grazing in, they take off into the air almost together, but in layers of smaller groups. When thousands of such pink and grey (white bodies + black wing tips) tend to fill the sky with white, pink and black suddenly in the horizon. This appears as though the birds are rising from the fire after being burned down to ashes.
This is the closest logical reason for the legend of Phoenix that had evolved in earlier days, where the phoenix is burnt down in flamingo flames to ashes (chicks) and they rise from the ashes into flames.
Another aspect is that the Flamingo chicks are dark grey throughout while they are in the nests, while they change to part-grey-part-white as they enter their juvenile phase. As they graze and eat more adult food in the form of microscopic organisms and algae, they earn their pinkish feathers from the food that they eat. Thus, the legend of Phoenix could also be the representation of the life cycle of the Flamingos themselves.
Phoenix Flight (Flamingo Flock Flight Frenzy)
The Greater Flamingoes (Phoenicopterus roseus) that were congregated at Pulicat Lake near SHAR Road took off yesterday (29-Dec-2019) evening to render this video.
These pinkish flamingo flock grazes in the waters near the horizon, submerging their inverted heads, keeping their distance from humans. Their white bodies tipped with black feathers (primaries and secondaries) appear to be grayish from a distance, as though it is ash in the horizon. Moreover, to prove that they are ashes, their pink bodies appear as a flaming fire in the distance. Moreover, juveniles grazing here and there are totally grey or part -white-part-grey in shade.
Suddenly, when they don't get enough food in the waters that they are grazing in, they take off into the air almost together, but in layers of smaller groups. When thousands of such pink and grey (white bodies + black wing tips) tend to fill the sky with white, pink and black suddenly in the horizon. This appears as though the birds are rising from the fire after being burned down to ashes.
This is the closest logical reason for the legend of Phoenix that had evolved in earlier days, where the phoenix is burnt down in flamingo flames to ashes (chicks) and they rise from the ashes into flames.
Another aspect is that the Flamingo chicks are dark grey throughout while they are in the nests, while they change to part-grey-part-white as they enter their juvenile phase. As they graze and eat more adult food in the form of microscopic organisms and algae, they earn their pinkish feathers from the food that they eat. Thus, the legend of Phoenix could also be the representation of the life cycle of the Flamingos themselves.