Why does a flamingo stand on one leg joke

Q: Why do flamingos stand on one leg?
A: If they lifted the other leg they would fall over!

Explanation:  Not what you expected?  Of course not!  That’s why this joke is funny.

Upon asking the question one expects an answer, an explanation.  In this case one expects an answer that tells why flamingos stand on one leg.  This joke is funny because it focuses on the other leg… and that is unexpected.

¡Saludos a Cesar!

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Because if he lifted that leg off the ground he would fall down! Did you answer this riddle correctly?
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While flamingo fans are known to wobble and sway at a certain pink-themed Baton Rouge parade, consider for a moment the Spanish Town mascot and its uncanny ability to balance on one leg.

That's what scientists Lena Ting and Young-Hui Chang did recently, according to a report in the academic journal The Conversation.

"Our search brought us up close and personal with a flock of juvenile flamingos and even flamingo skeletons and cadavers to figure out how they achieve their amazing feats of balance," the duo reported.

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But why should we care that flamingos can stand for long periods of time, and even sleep, on one leg?

Partially for fun, Ting and Chang say. But also because such insights into physics and biology could aid in the design of prosthetic devices for people, or in the design of robots.

The key: Gravity and specializations in flamingo anatomy, which allow the birds to hold the one-legged pose without using their muscles much at all.

Want a full explanation? Click here.

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — A Florida judge ruled that a man accused of killing a flamingo at Busch G…

There’s no universally accepted reason why flamingos stand on one leg. Rather, there are a number of different theories, some more likely to be correct than others. Let’s look through the theories, the reasoning behind each theory, and the likelihood of each theory being correct:

It’s a way to conserve heat

Legs and feet are a significant source of heat loss in birds, so holding one leg closer to the body could help them conserve heat.

The idea that birds living in tropical habitats need to conserve body heat may seem counter-intuitive, but flamingos spend most of their time in the water, which can lower the temperature of warm-blooded animals fairly quickly. One estimate puts the heat loss of a flamingo standing on two legs rather than one leg at between 140% and 170% more.

This theory was put to the test in a 2009 study at the Philadelphia Zoo, where the team tracked the temperature and weather conditions when the flamingos were resting. They found that when the weather was warmer, more birds would stand on two feet, while in cooler weather, more birds stood on one leg.

These results suggest that thermoregulation is a key reason behind the classic one-legged flamingo stance, though doesn’t rule out other theories also having some benefit.

Likelihood of being correct 8/10

It’s a natural reflex to stop them from falling over when sleeping

This theory suggests that flamingos share a behaviour seen in ducks, whales, and dolphins, and are able to shut down half their brain when they sleep.

As flamingos go into this half-awake state, a natural reflex kicks in, and the leg controlled by the side of the brain that’s awake stays on the ground to maintain balance. The other leg gets pulled up to rest – lifted towards the body as if it were gently lowering the body onto the ground.

Standing on one leg would keep the flamingo from falling over – and potentially drowning – because, as we’ve seen, flamingos have a build that actually gives them better balance when using one leg rather than two.

Likelihood of being correct 8/10

It’s more comfortable/reduces muscle fatigue

When standing on two legs, both legs are perfectly vertical. Because of the way a flamingo’s legs are built their leg joints are more unstable when both feet are flat on the ground.

Counter-intuitively, flamingos are actually more stable on one leg than on two. The act of balancing on one leg requires less muscular effort and allows the birds to sway less, according to a Royal Society report. It’s not a giant leap to consider that a flamingo would therefore be more comfortable standing for long periods – and sleeping – on one leg rather than two.

Given that flamingo cadavers can remain upright on one leg, but not two, there could well be something in this theory.

Likelihood of being correct 8/10

It helps keep their feet dry

Perhaps flamingos stand on one leg to dry their other foot off. As flamingos alternate which foot they’re standing on, this theory does seem possible, but it doesn’t seem too likely that a wading bird doesn’t like getting its feet wet.

Likelihood of being correct 3/10

It’s a way to better camouflage themselves

The water habitats where flamingos feed have plenty of long, thin objects in them – like reeds and small trees. A flamingo on one leg could some sort of thin plant life leading to a larger top when seen from the water, where a flamingo’s prey lives.

It’s certainly a possibility, but unlikely given flamingo’s prey  – algae, shrimp, molluscs, and aquatic plants are not particularly sight-driven, on the lookout for hungry birds. (See some other – better – animal camouflage examples.

Likelihood of being correct 3/10

It saves energy

Could it be true that a one-legged posture helps flamingos to conserve energy?

If saving energy was the main benefit of their one-legged stance we would reasonably expect flamingos to use this resting position constantly. Research has shown that flamingos are more likely to do so on cooler days, however, or while in the water, seemingly ruling out this theory.

Likelihood of being correct 2/10

It minimizes contact with parasites

Flamingos hang out in some pretty harsh water conditions, with plenty of parasites and fungi. Standing on only one leg would allow them to minimize the amount of contact they have with any parasites and fungi present in the water they’re wading in.

This theory would have weight if flamingos spent all of their time in the water on one leg. As it is, their stance on one leg vs two seems to be driven by the weather rather than the type of quality of water.

Likelihood of being correct 2/10

It helps flamingos flee predators more quickly

Researchers have put this theory to the test by timing how long it takes flamingos to start moving from both one-footed and two-footed resting positions. If this theory was correct, you would expect the birds to take their first steps faster when starting on one leg., but the research team found that the birds made a faster start when they had been standing on both legs, clearly ruling out this theory.

Likelihood of being correct 0/10