This is why flamingos stand on one leg
Flamingos are famous for lots of reasons, from their pink plumage to their tendency to stand on one leg while tucking themselves into a ball to sleep, and scientists have been actively trying to solve their mysteries.
Atlanta-based researchers Young-Hui Chang from the Georgia Institute of Technology and Lena Ting of Emory University studied live and dead flamingos to understand the mechanism behind the birds’ propensity for standing on one leg. They found that even dead birds could be made to stand on one leg without additional support, which means that no energy is required to pull off the trick, as MNN reports.
“[A] team from the U.S. has shown that flamingos employ no active muscular effort when they’re unipedal, meaning they are also expending less energy,” reports the BBC. “A passive mechanism is engaged in the one-legged position, allowing flamingos to stand proud while having a doze,” the statement added.
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According to the researchers, this is a “passive gravitational stay mechanism”, as standing on one leg requires less energy than standing on two. This comes down to minimizing energy when resting and flamingos have become professionals at sitting on one leg.
Why flamingos developed this ability is still unclear, with researchers hoping to uncover more of the story behind the unusual sleeping preference of these birds.
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