* Egyptian hieroglyphs used the flamingo as a symbol for “red”.* The word “flamingo” comes from the Latin word for flame, “flamma”.
* Flamingos get their pink colouring from carotenes in algae. They eat some of the algae directly, but a lot of it comes from eating shrimp and other crustaceans (who eat the algae before they get chowed themselves).
* Flamingos’ legs don’t actually bend backwards. Their knees work the same way ours do, but their legs are so long that what appears to be their knees are actually their ankles, which bend the same way human ankles do.
* Flamingos don’t have many natural predators, especially nowadays. But the Ancient Romans considered flamingo tongue to be a true delicacy.
