A gray-white hatchling stands at the start of one of biology’s quietest makeovers. Flamingos emerge without a hint of the saturated pink and red that later define them, because those colors are not hardwired into their feathers. Instead, the palette is outsourced to carotenoid pigments dissolved in the murky water they sift for food.Tiny crustaceans and algae carry carotenoids that flamingos canno...More