WEBVTT - Why Does Preening Help Keep Flamingos Pink?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff production of I Heart Radio, Hey

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<v Speaker 1>brain Stuff, Lauren Vola bam here. When you're on the

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<v Speaker 1>dating scene, conventional wisdom tells us it's a good idea

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<v Speaker 1>to maintain your appearance. Flamingos seem to know this too,

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<v Speaker 1>and thus spend a lot of times smearing their necks

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<v Speaker 1>with a secretion expressed by a gland on their rear ends.

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<v Speaker 1>This secretion is part of why flamingos are usually a striking,

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<v Speaker 1>fiery pink in color. But flamingos wouldn't have that color

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<v Speaker 1>if they ate different foods. Here's how it works. Many

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<v Speaker 1>types of plants and algae produce compounds called carotenoids, which

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<v Speaker 1>are the reddish pigments that give plants like carrots and

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<v Speaker 1>pumpkins their warm hues, Although they also do occur in

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<v Speaker 1>green plants like grass hidden away inside other intracellular structures.

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<v Speaker 1>Carotenoids are popular evolutionary feature in the plant kingdom because

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<v Speaker 1>they help plants absorb light, which ant's need for photosynthesis

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<v Speaker 1>of water and light into energy, and carotenoids also help

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<v Speaker 1>protect from the harmful effects of sunlight. Among a few

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<v Speaker 1>other functions. Further up the food chain, Carotenoids also give

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<v Speaker 1>color to animals like shrimp, lobsters, and salmon. Flamingos dine

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<v Speaker 1>primarily on brine trimp, which in turn feed on algae

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<v Speaker 1>rich in carotenoids. As a result of flamingo babies, which

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<v Speaker 1>are gray or white at birth, eventually eat enough brine

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<v Speaker 1>trimp to turn their feathers pink within the first couple

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<v Speaker 1>of years of their lives. Their diets color their feathers

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<v Speaker 1>from the inside out, but that's not all. A research

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<v Speaker 1>focused on flamingos in southern France that was published in

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<v Speaker 1>September one in the journal Ecology and Evolution found that

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<v Speaker 1>these birds also sneer their neck feathers with secretions that

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<v Speaker 1>are rich in carotenoids that come out of the europygial

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<v Speaker 1>gland on their rump. The europageal gland, also known as

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<v Speaker 1>the pream gland or oil gland, is found in most birds,

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<v Speaker 1>and its oil is distributed through the plumage by means

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<v Speaker 1>of preening. Flamingos preen with the especially carotene rich oil

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<v Speaker 1>that they produce to help prevent their beautiful pink plumage

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<v Speaker 1>from bleaching out in the sun, especially during breeding. Season,

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<v Speaker 1>which is basically met galas season for flamingos. It's a

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<v Speaker 1>little bit like applying rouge. The researchers discovered a correlation

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<v Speaker 1>between carotenoid concentrations on the inside and outside of flamingo feathers,

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<v Speaker 1>as well as the pinkness of an individual's feathers and

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<v Speaker 1>the concentration of pigments in their europygial secretions. When birds

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<v Speaker 1>stood out in the sun all day, their color faded,

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<v Speaker 1>but that wasn't the case for birds kept out of

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<v Speaker 1>the sun. In order for the sun bathing birds to

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<v Speaker 1>maintain breeding season worthy color, they had to constantly apply

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<v Speaker 1>this europygial makeup, which only makes it more appropriate that

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<v Speaker 1>a group of flamingos are often called a flamboyance. Today's

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<v Speaker 1>episode is based on the article Flamingo Rumps produced rouge

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<v Speaker 1>to print pink plumage on how stuff Works dot Com,

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<v Speaker 1>written by Jesselyn Shields. Brainstuffs production of by Heart Radio

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<v Speaker 1>in partnership with how stuff Works dot Com and it's

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<v Speaker 1>produced by Tyler Clang and Ramsey Young. Four more podcasts

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