Flamingos eat by sticking their heads underwater and using their beaks to sift out tiny marine organisms, like brine shrimp. But the birds don’t capture their food by simply scooping up water. Instead, they do a clever dance—stomping their feet and moving their heads up and down like plungers underwater—to draw in their meal.
Scientists from the University of California, Berkeley, recently discovered that this dance creates small underwater whirlpools called vortexes, which pull in and trap organisms. Flamingos also open and shut their beaks rapidly to pull food toward their mouths. This can help them to haul in up to seven times more prey than they would just by scooping.