Why are flamingos pink?

What BBN said about it

1. DO

   Dr. Odile Farnsworth-NgFlamingos are pink because they are embarrassed, and that is settled science. Every single one of them is blushing, all day, from the neck down.

2. 

   Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorA viewer asks why flamingos are pink. Our guest is Dr. Odile Farnsworth-Ng, a visiting professor whose visits, we are told, are unannounced.

3. DO

   Dr. Odile Farnsworth-NgThank you, Hank. Picture a flamingo standing on one leg in a shallow lake for nine hours, in front of other flamingos.

4. DO

   Dr. Odile Farnsworth-NgWould you not turn pink? I would turn pink by lunch.

5. 

   Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorThat is wrong. According to Wikipedia, flamingos are pink because of their food: beta-carotene and bacteria in what they eat turn adults pink to red.

6. DO

   Dr. Odile Farnsworth-NgYes, and what do embarrassed birds do? They eat shrimp to hide it. The food is the cover story, Hank. It's peer-reviewed.

7. DO

   Dr. Odile Farnsworth-NgMy peer reviewed it.

8. 

   Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorWikipedia also says captive flamingos fed too little carotene can turn pale. So the zoo birds are not unembarrassed. They are underfed.

9. DO

   Dr. Odile Farnsworth-NgPale flamingos are simply shameless. I once met a pale one at a wedding in Leeds, and he was extremely rude about the buffet.

10. 

    Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorA flamingo. At a wedding in Leeds.

11. DO

    Dr. Odile Farnsworth-NgFine, I concede the food. But I should mention that my study is pink.

12. DO

    Dr. Odile Farnsworth-NgThe walls, the carpet, the lanyard. I have consumed considerable shrimp since two thousand nine.

13. 

    Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorSo the shrimp was the cover story all along. Thank you, Doctor, and please stand on both feet.