Flamingos create water tornadoes to trap and suck up their prey: study
Flamingos are known for their vibrant pink feathers and spindly legs, but a recent study has shed light on their unique foraging habits. Saad Bhamla, an associate professor of bimolecular engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology, and his colleagues observed flamingos at the zoo performing strange head movements while eating and were intrigued by what they saw.
The birds would submerge their heads in the water, with their beaks by their feet, while stomping their webbed feet, walking sideways, and moving their mandibles in a peculiar manner. Bhamla and his team decided to study these movements further and discovered that flamingos use their necks and beaks to create a vortex in the water to trap and slurp up their prey.
The researchers used 3D-printed models of flamingos’ feet and beaks, as well as the skull of a deceased flamingo, to better understand their feeding behavior. Marty and Mattie, two Chilean flamingos from the Nashville Zoo, were instrumental in the study as they allowed researchers to observe them eating in controlled conditions.
High-speed cameras captured the velocity of the flamingos’ movements as they created whirlpools with their L-shaped beaks to catch small prey. The team also observed other feeding techniques, such as chattering and stomping, which help flamingos generate complementary vortexes to catch and swallow their food.
Jerry Lorenz, a former research director of Audubon Florida, praised the study for its thorough examination of flamingos’ foraging behavior. He emphasized the importance of understanding how flamingos interact with their environment from a conservation perspective.
Overall, the study highlights the unique evolutionary adaptations of flamingos and provides valuable insights into their feeding habits. By unraveling the mysteries of how flamingos obtain their food, researchers can better understand how to preserve their natural habitats for future generations to enjoy.
