Flamingo Bracelet

With legs like stilts, beaks like boomerangs, and flamboyant pink feathers, flamingos are perhaps the most recognizable wading bird in the world. If they had a catchphrase, it would be “you are what you eat,” since their impossibly beautiful coloring comes from the beta carotene in the crustaceans, mollusks, plankton, and algae they consume.

Extremely social, flamingos live in colonies with tens of thousands of birds and are typically found among the shallow lakes, mangrove swamps, sandy islands, and coastal areas of Africa, Asia, America, and Europe. 

While no flamingo species is considered endangered at this time, three of the six flamingo species are considered near threatened. 

Because of their distinct appearance, flamingos are fabulous wildlife ambassadors that illustrate the beauty and diversity we stand to lose if we fail to address the threats they face. 

The biggest challenges in conserving flamingos and other wading birds include plastic and chemical pollution, climate change, habitat loss, and the animal entertainment industry.