Why Are Flamingos Pink?

火烈鸟为什么是粉红色的？

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Flamingos are so famous for their colour that they’ve even inspired their own hot pink lawn ornament. So they must be born rosy, right?

火烈鸟因其颜色而闻名于世，它们甚至还激发了自己的火辣粉红成为草坪上的装饰品。所以它们的粉红一定是天生的，对吧？

Nope. It turns out that flamingos are not naturally pink. The lanky-limbed birds are actually born with light gray feathers. Pink is not in their DNA. Flamingos are just one of the many animals that look nothing like their baby pictures.

不。 事实证明，火烈鸟不是天然的粉红色。实际上，瘦长鸟儿的羽毛天生是浅灰色的。因此， 粉红色不在它们的DNA中。有很多动物的婴儿的照片与它们完全不同，火烈鸟就是其中的一种。

So what causes the birds to turn pink? Well, their favourite things to eat in the wild are brine shrimp, larvae, and blue-green algae. All three contain compounds called carotenoids, or yellow, red, or orange pigments. When these foods make their way into a flamingo’s digestive tract, enzymes break the carotenoids down into pink and orange molecules. Those molecules are absorbed by fats in the liver and are eventually deposited into flamingo’s skin, feathers, beak, and legs. Over time on this diet, a flamingo’s feathers will gradually turn from gray to a more vibrant hue.

那么是什么原因导致火烈鸟变成粉红色的呢？ 嗯，它们最喜欢在野外吃的东西是盐水虾、幼虫和蓝绿藻。这三种食物都含有被称为类胡萝卜素、或黄色、或红色、或橙色色素的化合物。当这些食物进入火烈鸟的消化道时，酶会将类胡萝卜素分解成粉红色和橙色的分子。这些分子被肝脏中的脂肪吸收，最终沉积在火烈鸟的皮肤、羽毛、喙和腿中。随着时间的推移，火烈鸟的羽毛将逐渐从灰色变为更加充满活力的颜色。

Of course, flamingo feathers range in colour from white to many different shades of pink to orange and red. The colour a flamingo’s feathers turns depends on where they’re located and what they’re eating. For example, the pink feathers of some flamingos living in zoos started to fade until zookeepers started feeding the birds a synthetic version of the pink dye. Now that you know what gives flamingos their distinctive colour, find out which “facts” about animals you have all wrong.

当然，火烈鸟羽毛的颜色会从白色变到众多不同深浅的粉红色、橙色和红色。火烈鸟羽毛的颜色取决于它们的位置和食物。例如，生活在动物园的一些火烈鸟的粉红色羽毛开始褪色，动物园管理员开始给鸟喂合成的粉红色染料才能停止褪色。既然你知道了为什么火烈鸟具有独特的颜色，那么你就会发现关于动物的哪些“事实”你都错了。