When you see a flamingo, the first thing you would immediately notice is its pink coloration because these birds are so unique in the sense that they come with bright pink feathers you probably won’t see in any other bird. However, another thing that is strikingly noticeable when it comes to the flamingo is that this bird has skinny legs that probably don’t seem like they are stable enough to handle its weight. So, in that sense, why is it that flamingos have skinny legs?
Flamingos have skinny legs because this is what allows them to stay physically efficient. They use these long and skinny legs to stand in the water and to look for food for long periods of time. Of course, if flamingos had thick long legs, this can also compromise their ability to fly because of the added weight.
Like any animal in the world, the flamingo has naturally evolved to be efficient in terms of its body structure. After all, it wouldn’t have survived for this long if its skinny legs are actually a hindrance to its survivability. That said, let’s talk more about the flamingo and its skinny legs so that you will have a better idea of how it helps the bird.
Why do flamingos have skinny legs?
One of the many different popular birds in the world is the flamingo. After all, you don’t always see birds or animals that come with the flamingo’s brightly colored feathers that are pinkish and that are not aggressive. And this is why flamingos are so popular because a huge flock of flamingos will make any scenery look brightly colored thanks to their pink feathers.
Of course, another aspect about the flamingo that you will notice right away concerns its legs. Unlike other birds that have short legs, the flamingo actually has long and skinny legs that immediately stand out because of how long and skinny they actually are when you see them in person. And what may catch your attention when you see a flamingo is that it might seem physically impossible for them to actually move or stand up well with such long and skinny legs.
So, why do flamingos have such skinny legs?
When you think about it, no animal in the world has evolved to become inefficient in the way they live. Every animal in the world has a reason why they look as such or why they have certain physical features that you may think are odd but are actually there to allow the animal to function more efficiently when it is doing its daily habits for survival. After all, if an animal had physical features that are actually inefficient, the animal wouldn’t even survive for as long as it did. In this case, there are good reasons why flamingos have such skinny legs.
For starters, you have to understand that flamingos are birds that are capable of flight. In that regard, if they had long and stout legs, the added weight of their legs would just make it more difficult for them to carry their entire body while flying. Also, if you think that the flamingo’s legs are too skinny to carry its weight, you would be surprised to know that flamingos aren’t actually that heavy. And that is why they are capable of flight.
Moreover, you also have to notice that flamingos spend most of their time in the water. Having long legs will allow them to be able to stay in the water without having to sacrifice their ability to see well enough and try to spot the surroundings for potential predators.
As an example, try to go into a swimming pool and stand upright. You may have noticed that you struggle to have a good vantage point because your body is submerged deep in the water and will therefore limit your line of sight.
So, in the flamingo’s case, having long legs and a long neck will give it a good vantage point when it is submerged in the water. And being submerged in the water throughout most of its entire day is also one of the reasons why the flamingo has skinny legs.
When the flamingo is in the water, it will naturally lose body heat through its leg, which will cool down while submerged in the water. And we say leg here because flamingos rarely submerged both legs in the water as we will understand more about later on.
In this case, having skinny legs gives the flamingo an advantage when it is submerging its leg in the water. Let’s say that the flamingo has thicker legs but retains its usual weight as some of the mass in its upper body is transferred to its legs. But because the leg is always submerged in the water and it has a good portion of the flamingo’s overall body mass, the bird will stand to lose more body heat in the process.
Meanwhile, because most of the flamingo’s body mass is concentrated on its upper body, having skinny legs gives it an advantage when it is submerging its legs in the water as it will not lose as much body heat if more of its weight redistributed to its legs to give its legs more mass.
And you don’t even have to worry about the flamingo’s balance because of how it has webbed feet that are wide so that it won’t end up having problems balancing itself. Meanwhile, because it stays in the water a lot of times, it is much more capable of carrying its body weight with one leg because of how the water aids in carrying some of its weight.
Why do flamingos prefer to stand on one leg?
We have mentioned that flamingos actually prefer to stand on one leg whenever they are in the water. But you might be wondering why that is so? Well, again, we have to go back to the basic physics of the flamingo’s body structure to understand why it is better for it to only have one leg in the water.
Again, we mentioned that staying in the water will allow the flamingo to lose body heat. Just imagine yourself dipping your legs in the pool. You will notice that you will feel colder when you have both your legs in the water as opposed to only one. That is the same case for the flamingo.
Because of how it will stand to lose more body heat if it were to stand in the water with both legs, the flamingo is better off standing on one leg because it won’t end up losing more body heat if it did so. In comparison, standing in the water with both legs will allow it to lose body heat 40 to 70 percent faster. Therefore, it is much more efficient if it is standing in the water with only one leg.
Standing in the water with one leg will allow the flamingo to stay in the water longer. This will allow it to have more time to find food, which is nothing short of important for its survival. As such, it becomes easy to understand why the flamingo is better off standing in the water in one leg when you factor in its survivability.
