This research could help explain why many other bird species stand on just one leg, the researchers said. It remains uncertain whether flamingos stand on one leg to reduce muscle activity, save body heat, both, or neither.
The researchers need more direct measurements of muscle activity and heat loss in live birds to further test these ideas, Ting said.
Register or Log In. The Magazine Shop. Login Register Stay Curious Subscribe. Planet Earth. A young flamingo demonstrates its passive, one-legged stance. Newsletter Sign up for our email newsletter for the latest science news. Sign Up. Already a subscriber? Want more? By: Julia Layton. In a large, shallow body of water, hundreds of flamingos congregate like an avian water ballet team: all preening their pink feathers, resting in the sun and standing on one leg for hours at a time.
Flamingos even sleep that way. It's a puzzle to science why, exactly, flamingos stand on one leg so regularly. But there are lots of theories on the subject. Humans are oriented vertically, with almost all of their weight in line with the center of gravity.
It really should be easier for humans to stand on one leg than for flamingos. But most of us have trouble standing one leg for 10 seconds, let alone four hours like flamingos do. Most large wading birds have the ability to stand on one leg, and flamingos are one of the biggest wading birds out there.
They range from 32 to 51 inches tall 81 to cm , but they don't weigh much -- just about 5 to 8 pounds 2 to 3. Combine their height with their coloring, and flamingos are one of the most recognizable birds in the world. They're practically a city logo in Miami. It's startling to see a large group of pink, red or vermillion birds standing in a shallow pond. The color comes from the food they eat, including shrimp , which is full of carotenoid pigments the same thing that makes carrots orange.
Flamingos are always in groups, anywhere from a few birds to a few hundred or even thousands, and they live on every continent except Australia and Antarctica [source: San Diego Zoo ]. They're very social, sleeping, preening their feathers and eating together. Imagine hundreds of birds with their heads under water, fishing.
Or sort of fishing: Flamingos stick their heads in the water upside down and suck mud and water in through the front of their beak. The top and bottom of the beak have bristles that intertwine when they meet, forming a comblike filtering mechanism.
The water and mud flow through, getting pumped out the sides of the beak. What's left is the flamingo's food, usually algae and small crustaceans. They stand on both legs to eat, but on one leg to sleep.
It seems like sleeping would require both legs on the ground for balance -- since the animal is unconscious. So why do flamingos do it? On the next page, we'll look into some of the most common theories. If you stood in the water all day, what would happen to your skin? You'd look like a prune, most likely. They found that when it was warmer, more birds would stand on two feet, while in cooler weather, more favored the one-legged stance.
Overall though, the majority of the flock favored standing on one leg. The idea that a bird that lives in tropical climates would need to hold in its body heat may seem counter-intuitive, but flamingos spend most of their time in the water, and water causes them to lose body heat more rapidly — just think about the shiver that comes after getting out of a pool, even on a hot summer day.
While more research needs to be done, particularly in observing wild flocks of flamingoes, Anderson said his work, to be detailed in an upcoming issue of the journal Zoo Biology, shows that thermoregulation is a key reason behind the iconic flamingo stance. Though it doesn't rule out other benefits of the posture, such as minimizing contact with parasites and fungi that might be present in the water they are wading in. Live Science.
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