Flamingos aren't born pink

Flamingos are born with dull grey plumage. The pink isn't theirs from birth: they get it from their food.

The algae and tiny crustaceans they filter from the water are loaded with pigments called carotenoids —the same ones that give carrots their colour. Their bodies store them in their feathers, and that's why the better they eat, the more intense their pink.

A flamingo on a diet, quite literally, grows pale.