The cosmetic flamingo
A bright story to enlighten these gloomy autumn evenings that have set in... It seems a bit weird but I am not making this up, scientists working on bird colouration and pigments have found out that greater flamingos (one the commonest species in captivity and stars of WWT's new "Flamingo Lagoon" exhibit) can actually make themselves appear brighter by using a type of avian make-up. Research coming out of Spain by Juan Amat and colleagues from 2011, has demonstrated at greater flamingos can make their feather colour brighter when they preen by smearing a special pigment through their plumage. This pigment comes from the flamingo's preen gland (or to give it its posh scientific name, its uropygial gland).
Flamingos are pink because of a chemical compound called a carotenoid (the same stuff that makes carrots orange) and whilst it is well known that this compound is physiologically pushed into their feathers to give them their characteristic hue, what was not known was that the birds were adding a bit extra mechanically, to improve their appearance even further.
The very exciting finding from this research is that this "painting-on of colour" behaviour is very similar to how people use make-up. The flamingos actively add more and more secretions from their preen gland to increase the vibrancy and intensity of the colour of their plumage. So the flamingos are deliberately trying to make themselves appear brighter. Why would they do this? Well, findings show that the brightest and most colourful birds commenced breeding behaviours the soonest and were those to start nest building first. Just the same as people like to "glam up" to try and attract a future partner, so flamingos do the same. The birds that put the most effort into painting their feathers appeared the most desirable to others of the opposite sex and thus were the most successful at having chicks. So there you have it, an avian example of make-up in action!
For more details of the science behind this article, see: http://www.springerlink.com/content/r098086680412q50/
NOT a greater flamingo, but this photo of an Andean flamingo shows you how the bird's preen their feathers.
