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Regulation and Adaptations
American Flamingo (Phoenicopterus Ruber), is a very unique bird. From its environment, the American Flamingo has adapted ways at which it can survive. The shallow water that it is usually in, has allowed for the adaptation of its long legs, and large webbed feet in order to wade and stir up the bottom of the water bed to bring up their food source to then be retrieved. In order to feed they have specialized beaks, which are hooked downward and have a marginal lamellae on the upper jaw, and inner and outer lamellae on both the upper and lower jaw for filtering out different sized food from water. Depending on the food source in their area, will depend on the exact morphology of their beaks on what can and cannot be strained out of them. Because it submerges its head under water to retrieve its food, it may have its head under water for larger amounts of time, which requires it to hold its breath. As well, due to the fact that they ingest food with a high salt content and mostly drink salt water, these birds have adapted a way to maintain osmoregulation within their body. The way in which they do this is through the use of a salt gland, which is found in their noses. This salt gland helps emit excess salt from the body. If the environment permits it, they can also drink water at near boiling temperatures from geysers for fresh drinking water. Some factors which affect the habitat area that the American flamingos choose are environmental temperatures, water depth, food source, how accessible an area is and vegetative beds that are in the areas that they feed. If the food requirements don’t meet the needs of the flamingo or the temperatures are not comfortable to their requirements, they move to a better feeding or more temperate area

Respiratory challenges from environmental Factors
Flamingos also often live in very warm climates and need a way to maintain normal levels of heat within their bodies. A way which they do this is through thermal panting because they do not have sweat glands. Even though this would normally in most mammals would cause respiratory alkalosis, the American Flamingos have mechanisms in order to avoid this from happening and maintaining a constant partial pressure of carbon dioxide in the blood.