The San Diego Zoo has released a video of the intriguing eating process of flamingos, with the footage showing what happens underwater as they use their beaks to feed off the water bed.
The zoo installed the underwater camera to capture what goes on beneath the surface, in what they are calling "Flamingo dining."
Writing about the video, San Diego Zoo said:
These pretty in pink birds feed by sucking in water and mud at the front of their bills, then pumping it out at the sides. Briny plates called lamellae act like tiny filters, trapping shrimp and other small water creatures for the flamingos to eat. Everybirdy loves seafood!
The two-and-a-half-minute video shows in great clarity their vacuum-style technique for scooping up food. They tap on the sand, using their beak in order to assess and filter which items are edible among the mud and water.
As for what they eat, the zoo revealed the birds are fed a special pellet diet that has all the nutrients they need and a pigment that helps keep them “in the pink.”
The video has since gone viral on Facebook, with over 33,000 likes and 26,000 shares. Check out the footage for yourself above.
I saw this in petapixel and thought "Well, what this have to do with photography? Nothing. But well, some interesting original article".
Now I see this here and I think the same, except maybe the original part.
I have read that Flamingos have curved beaks for the way they eat, but never actually seen them eat until now. Great photo graphics. Thanks for sharing a great video.