Q 01/05

Which pigments in their food give flamingos their pink colour?

A) Melanins

B) Anthocyanins

C) Chlorophylls

D) Carotenoids

Answer · why

D) Carotenoids

Carotenoids, the pigments that also colour carrots, reach flamingos through the algae and small crustaceans they eat; zoos add pigment to the feed, be...

Q 02/05

In Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, the Queen's croquet game uses live flamingos as what?

A) Balls

B) Hoops

C) Mallets

D) Goalposts

Answer · why

C) Mallets

Mallets, and poor ones: each time Alice gets her flamingo's neck lined up for a shot, it twists round to look up into her face, and by then the hedgeh...

Q 03/05

What colour is the down of a newly hatched flamingo chick?

A) Bright pink

B) Grey or white

C) Jet black

D) Pale yellow

Answer · why

B) Grey or white

Grey or white: a flamingo is not born pink, and the colour builds up only as pigments from its food reach the feathers, which takes two or three years...

Q 04/05

The largest flamingo species can stand 1.5 metres tall, but about how much does it weigh?

A) About 300 g

B) About 3 kg

C) About 30 kg

D) About 300 kg

Answer · why

B) About 3 kg

About 3 kg: even the greater flamingo, the largest species, weighs only 2 to 4 kg, because most of its height is slender leg and long neck around a sm...

Q 05/05

What is one leading theory for why flamingos stand on one leg?

A) To hide from fish below

B) To improve balance in wind

C) To appear taller to predators

D) To conserve body heat

Answer · why

D) To conserve body heat

To conserve body heat is one theory, since a leg tucked into the feathers loses less warmth than one in cold water; yet flamingos also do it in warm w...