Page 160 - Literati Bytes

A FLAME COLOURED BEAUTY!
Every year, around the month of
November, the western side of India is washed
over with a bright wave of pink and orange. As
flocks of tourists ride over to the west, they
experience the eternal haven of beauty and
peace. These migratory gifts are the wondrous
birds called Flamingos!
But every time a bright picture
reflecting the shades of a flamingo meet my
eyes, my mind wanders off to the thought: Why
are flamingos pink? Well, for a long time, I
satisfied my young mind with the idea of
someone painting these young birds pink. But as
I grew up, I realised that the actual reason was
a very interesting science. As it turns out,
Flamingos are not born pink. They develop the
colour as a reason of their daily diet!
For flamingos, the algae, larvae and shrimps they
eat consist of a specific red- orange pigment called
Beta Carotene, in a high quantity. In their digestive
system, enzymes help break down the carotenoids
into pigments that are absorbed by the fats in the
liver and deposited in the feathers, thus the pink
colour. The food of the flamingos is actually
exclusively carotenoid filled, so they can turn pink
without any difficulties. Hence, the next time
somebody asks you why a flamingo is pink; you have
a valid scientific answer, instead of a wild fantasy!
In the digestive system, enzymes break down
carotenoidsinto pigments that are absorbed by fats
in the liver and deposited, for flamingos, in the
feathers and skin. To actually color the physical
attributes, carotenoids must be ingested in very
large amounts. Because the flamingo diet is nearly
exclusively carotenoid-filled delicacies, the birds
have no problem coloring themselves. A human, on
the other hand, would need to eat quite a lot of
carrots (a food heavy in carotenoids, which also
gives the substance its name) to turn a shade of
orange.
Janhavi Dande (X)