Lekce do třídy · Wildlife · 🇫🇷 France

Flamingoes of the Camargue

Wild pink birds that paint themselves with their dinner

Two greater flamingoes in shallow water in the Camargue wetlands

Photo · Wikimedia Commons

Co to je?

Most people think of flamingoes as zoo birds - but France has its own wild ones. They live in the Camargue, a huge area of marshland in the south of France where a river called the Rhône meets the sea. Around 10,000 to 20,000 flamingoes live there every year.

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Flamingoes are not born pink. Their chicks are fluffy grey. They turn pink slowly as they grow up, because of what they eat: tiny shrimps and algae that contain a pink pigment. The colour from the food travels into their feathers. A flamingo really does turn the colour of its dinner.

Flamingoes feed in a very strange way. They stand in shallow water, put their head upside down, and pump water in and out of their beak. Tiny brushes inside the beak filter out the food and let the water flow back out. It works a bit like a sieve.

They are surprisingly good fliers. A flamingo can fly more than 600 kilometres in a single night, with its long legs trailing behind and its long neck stretched out in front. They migrate between the Camargue and places like Spain, Italy and North Africa.

Flamingoes spend lots of their time standing on one leg, even when they sleep. Scientists think it actually takes less effort than standing on two - they have a clever leg-locking system, like a kickstand on a bike. Try standing on one foot yourself. How long can you do it for?

Ve třídě

Proveďte se svou třídou tímto tématem za 15 minut.

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Náměty k diskusi

01Flamingoes turn pink because of what they eat. If a food could change your colour, what would you want to eat?
02Flamingoes sleep standing on one leg. How might that be safer than sleeping lying down in shallow water?
03The Camargue is wetland - half water, half land. What kinds of animals would suit a place that's a bit of both?

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Aktivita do třídy

Have the class try the flamingo balance: stand on one leg for as long as you can, with your eyes closed. Time everyone, then make a class chart. Talk about what your body has to do to keep balanced.

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