Member-only story
Pink Floyd Back From Dark Side of the Moon
Errant flamingo has made Texas his new home
Pink Floyd originally lived in Tanzania. Back in 2004, he and 38 other flamingos were captured and taken to the Sedgewick County Zoo in Wichita, Kansas.
An African flamingo, Pink Floyd and his friends stand between 4 and 5 feet tall and are known for their vivid plumage. In the wild, while these birds don’t often migrate, they are able to fly quite well.
They are often seen standing on one leg while the other is tucked underneath their bodies. They actually balance very easily this way and scientists think it uses less energy for them to do so.
In the wild, the bacteria and other nutrients in the food they eat, such as beta carotene, gives them their beautiful color. A pale or white flamingo is typically malnourished, and bright feathers are a sign of good health. This helps flamingos when they mate.
Pink Floyd, also known as number 492 thanks to identity band on his leg, escaped with number 347 a year after they arrived at the zoo during a storm.
Sometimes captive flamingos have a part of their wings amputated to keep them from escaping, but the officials at the zoo didn’t want to do that to already mature birds such as Pink Floyd and his friends. Therefore, they just kept…
