Crop Milk

[00:01] It is time, officially, by my watch, for another UndaGoogable.
[00:07] Oh, we doing UndaGoogables?
[00:15] That was the plan.
[00:16] Super excited.
[00:17] You told us we had to, sir.
[00:19] You said we signed up for it.
[00:22] In the end, it's going to be better and more true than Google can give you.
[00:28] Coalson, I know you've got some burning questions and you've come to the right place.
[00:33] How can we help you this week?
[00:35] Burning questions, lighting the internet on fire is what it's doing.
[00:39] So, when I have questions, I come to you guys, my three smartest friends.
[00:45] This week, want to know why Flamingos stand on one leg?
[00:50] Does anybody know?
[00:52] Lazy.
[00:54] You mean just the lawn ornaments or the actual birds?
[00:58] That's a good question.
[00:59] Well, okay, so they're pink because they eat shrimp.
[01:04] Right?
[01:05] That's the thing.
[01:06] Otherwise, they're white.
[01:07] The pinkest ones eat the most shrimp.
[01:09] Not shrimp, I don't think.
[01:11] Is it krill or something?
[01:12] They eat something.
[01:13] They eat something that's pink.
[01:15] Krill is what the whales eat.
[01:17] I don't know.
[01:18] It's not krill.
[01:19] Yeah.
[01:20] So, it's like they're translucent and we're just seeing the...
[01:23] Yes.
[01:24] Yes.
[01:25] Actually, this is even a good question, too, because I know they turn themselves pink
[01:28] by what they eat, but how does that work evolutionarily?
[01:32] Right?
[01:33] Like, are you...
[01:34] Because you're...
[01:35] Well, I mean, if you eat a bunch of...
[01:36] Like, so there are certain things that are colored that you eat.
[01:39] You eat enough carrots.
[01:40] Like, you'll turn them...
[01:41] Yeah.
[01:42] Yeah.
[01:43] Actually, that happened to me when I was a kid.
[01:44] Yeah, actually, I ate too much squash and I turned orange.
[01:49] And just never undid that.
[01:51] Yeah.
[01:52] You're making that up.
[01:54] No, I'm not making it.
[01:55] That's what my parents tell me.
[01:56] Yeah, apparently.
[01:57] They took me to the doctor and they're like, I just feed them less squash.
[02:00] Because I wasn't like bright orange, but I had like a little bit of a rusty hue.
[02:07] Now I'm curious, like, how much squash is too much squash?
[02:11] And then also, I actually have a lot of follow-up questions.
[02:14] Who was in charge of your diet?
[02:16] Was it your parents?
[02:18] And then it's like, all right, well, too much squash.
[02:20] But was it you as a child saying, just give me all the squash?
[02:24] Yeah, no, I think it was, because there's also a story about how I ate all the watermelon.
[02:27] All you would eat of the baby food was the squash.
[02:29] No, I think I just really like binge ate stuff.
[02:32] Like, I just was really into one thing.
[02:34] And now my thing is just pizza.
[02:36] That's all I eat now.
[02:37] So, I mean, I guess on some level.
[02:39] And beer.
[02:40] And beer.
[02:41] My question is, we talked about earlier how you went with this like long undiagnosed disease.
[02:45] So, they were so distracted by the squash eating that they couldn't diagnose your broken bones.
[02:52] That's true.
[02:53] Yeah, I think that's the case.
[02:55] Excellent.
[02:56] Okay.
[02:57] Way to go, doctors.
[02:59] Well, you know the squash.
[03:00] It was the 70s.
[03:01] They did the x-ray for the squash mass down there.
[03:03] There was some squash in the skin.
[03:09] They took an x-ray.
[03:10] There was just a big squash.
[03:12] Okay.
[03:13] So, give back on track.
[03:14] Okay.
[03:15] So, okay.
[03:16] Because I actually, I was reading in one of my golden guides to butterflies and moths today,
[03:21] as one does when you're on child care.
[03:24] I usually say that for Friday, but each into their own.
[03:28] Some caterpillars are translucent, but they look green because you can see the chloroplasts
[03:35] of the leaves that they're eating or whatever, right?
[03:38] Yeah.
[03:39] Okay.
[03:40] So, there's no way that's the case with flamingos, right?
[03:43] It's just that they consume something that has a lot of pigment in it.
[03:49] And then the pigment is just taken up into the skin.
[03:52] There's no point in skin.
[03:54] So, otherwise, their feathers are white.
[03:57] They're pigmentless, right?
[03:59] So, it's just taking on whatever they're eating.
[04:04] Yeah.
[04:05] Well, it means like the thing that they eat specifically is, you know, like if they were
[04:11] eating squash, maybe they would turn, you know, orange or squash color.
[04:18] But if they were eating pizza, they'd probably be white maybe.
[04:20] They'd be pepperoni.
[04:21] Maybe that was a bad example.
[04:26] Okay.
[04:27] But the question is, why did they stand on one leg?
[04:31] Was it?
[04:32] That's where we started.
[04:34] Yeah, yeah.
[04:35] Yeah, we got to be careful with these midweek pots, man.
[04:38] Laziness, I think, is a good...
[04:41] So, it's like one leg gets tired, so they lift the other leg, and then like...
[04:47] Probably.
[04:48] So, your legs don't fall asleep.
[04:49] They have really long legs, right?
[04:52] We stand in the mud, too.
[04:53] Is it possible that their feet get stuck, and they just want to like get one up?
[04:58] Maybe you don't want to get both feet stuck at the same time.
[05:02] Mm-hmm.
[05:03] Okay.
[05:04] Remember when you were at Acolyte in church, and they'd be like,
[05:07] don't lock your knees?
[05:09] So, you don't pass out.
[05:10] Yeah.
[05:11] Maybe flamingos just like have kind of weak hearts, and like their feet are way
[05:15] far away from their tiny, tiny heart.
[05:18] Mm-hmm.
[05:19] And it helps with circulation.
[05:21] Oh, circulation.
[05:22] I like that.
[05:23] Yeah, yeah, yeah.
[05:24] It's like a blood pressure thing.
[05:26] They're just...
[05:28] Sure, man.
[05:30] Because their legs are really long and thin, right?
[05:33] But, I mean, why would you design...
[05:35] Why would you design a bird that...
[05:38] I mean, as God.
[05:39] Nobody's designed anything.
[05:41] Why would...
[05:42] Okay, okay.
[05:44] Why would evolution get a bird...
[05:48] I feel like we've had this conversation about evolution before.
[05:52] Man.
[05:53] The legs are so long...
[05:55] It's a theory, though, right?
[05:56] Yeah, the legs are so long that it's bad for their heart.
[06:02] That's what I want to know.
[06:03] So, look, big muscles are inefficient.
[06:06] Brains, for instance, very inefficient things.
[06:09] Create a ton of heat.
[06:10] They're a problem, right?
[06:11] Okay.
[06:12] But the costs outweigh...
[06:15] The benefits of evolution.
[06:16] Or the benefits outweigh the costs for us over time, right?
[06:19] So, the smaller your heart that you can get away with,
[06:23] the probably better off you are.
[06:24] So, if you can, like, shrink down the size
[06:28] of a huge, like, calorie-sucking muscle
[06:33] by lifting up your leg a couple hours a day,
[06:36] like, evolution may say, hey, that helps.
[06:40] Okay.
[06:41] Over T, right?
[06:44] I don't think...
[06:45] That's actually...
[06:46] Because you're more likely to survive a fan,
[06:48] for instance, right?
[06:50] Oh, I see.
[06:51] Okay, sure.
[06:52] Because it just...
[06:53] That little bit of energy saving is going to...
[06:56] Maybe over time...
[06:57] Well, I'm guessing that their legs are skinny.
[07:00] Oh, yeah.
[07:01] Okay, so...
[07:02] But that doesn't, like, decrease the length, though, right?
[07:04] They're just...
[07:05] They're bending it.
[07:06] It doesn't...
[07:07] It's not like it's shorter.
[07:08] Yeah, but they're long because they're, like, wading birds.
[07:11] They're wading birds, right.
[07:12] Yeah.
[07:13] So, they've got to be above the water
[07:14] when they're walking through the mud, right?
[07:17] And then...
[07:18] And eating all their shrimp or whatever.
[07:20] Right, whatever makes them pink.
[07:22] And then they're super skinny
[07:24] because they need to be light,
[07:25] because they also need to fly.
[07:27] Right, yes.
[07:29] So, all that stuff works evolutionarily.
[07:31] I agree with Harper.
[07:32] I think it's just an energy thing.
[07:34] I think it's just, like, yeah.
[07:36] You just trade out.
[07:37] But okay...
[07:38] If you can balance on one leg...
[07:39] Well, I was going to say,
[07:40] it takes me more energy to balance on one leg than to not.
[07:43] Yeah, but you're not a flaminga.
[07:45] Yeah, you make an excellent point.
[07:49] Not a cat.
[07:50] Not a flamingo.
[07:51] What are you, man?
[07:52] Yeah, I know.
[07:53] So, you're saying that you could actually...
[07:58] Because the way that the animal is built,
[08:04] that it's actually easier for them to stand on one leg
[08:08] than it would be for two.
[08:10] I don't know if it's easier,
[08:11] but the differential in energy expended is...
[08:18] I guess, yeah, yeah.
[08:21] It's not that much.
[08:23] Okay.
[08:24] What's the...
[08:25] I guess, yeah, I guess I don't get what the...
[08:28] What part of that is, like, spending less energy?
[08:31] So, the return cycle on blood flow is real hard.
[08:35] It requires greater blood pressure
[08:37] to push stuff up against gravity, right?
[08:40] Right.
[08:41] So, by having your leg up, it requires, you know,
[08:44] not only is your foot potentially above your knee,
[08:47] so that creates natural gravitational flow,
[08:51] but also you don't need as much blood pressure
[08:55] to get the return cycle happening.
[08:57] To get the blood back up into your heart.
[09:00] Do we...
[09:01] So, I don't disagree with you there,
[09:03] but do we see other examples of this around nature?
[09:06] I'm actually wondering if all waiting birds do this.
[09:12] Like, yeah, like, do egrets do this?
[09:14] Like, I feel like maybe they do now that we're talking about it.
[09:17] I'm just shocked that you came up with another waiting bird
[09:20] and it was an egret.
[09:22] I'm just...
[09:23] I thought we were going to start doing the name game.
[09:25] Like, a heron.
[09:26] Can we get some herons going on?
[09:28] Heron? Heron's good.
[09:29] Yeah, yeah.
[09:30] There we go.
[09:31] That's good.
[09:32] Stork.
[09:33] Coalson one bingo for sure.
[09:34] Egrets?
[09:35] Yeah.
[09:36] Nailed it.
[09:39] That's good.
[09:40] I feel like they're all using one leg.
[09:42] That's a good guess.
[09:44] I like this.
[09:45] Okay.
[09:46] And it's to lower the blood pressure
[09:49] to make it easier for the small heart to pump.
[09:51] To just save it.
[09:52] They're saving energy.
[09:54] Like an LED bulb, right?
[09:55] And maybe not to get two feet stuck.
[09:59] Is that your back up?
[10:01] I mean, it's a good thing to not have happen.
[10:04] That's true.
[10:05] That's true.
[10:06] Now, can they eat with only one leg up?
[10:08] Do they have to have both legs down to eat?
[10:11] Good question.
[10:12] I suspect that balance is something that some specific part of their brain
[10:18] made use of to make sure this works, right?
[10:22] Right, right, right.
[10:24] Hmm.
[10:25] It seems like it's actually easier for them to stand on one leg.
[10:30] Like it's more comfortable.
[10:33] I mean...
[10:34] They can sleep like that.
[10:35] They can, like, lock.
[10:37] It seems like...
[10:38] Discovery.com is saying that they have a joint that can, like, lock
[10:42] as long as they're on one leg.
[10:44] So they just kind of lock it in place.
[10:46] And they basically...
[10:50] Oh, this is...
[10:52] This got interesting.
[10:54] They were able to lock a deceased flamingo,
[11:01] put it in that position, and it could stand up no problem.
[11:05] Hmm.
[11:06] Basically, once it's in position, it needs absolutely no muscle control.
[11:13] So, yes, it is definitely saving energy.
[11:16] Yeah.
[11:17] So, on Britannica, they say that there's two theories.
[11:22] One is that it reduces muscle fatigue,
[11:27] which would allow them to move more quickly when threatened by predators.
[11:32] But that was not true.
[11:34] They would actually take off faster from...
[11:38] As you would have imagined.
[11:40] Yeah.
[11:41] Yeah.
[11:42] The other is maintenance of body temperature.
[11:46] So, apparently, lots of birds lose heat through their legs and feet.
[11:50] And so if you hold one leg closer, you...
[11:52] Sure.
[11:53] ...keep the heat there a little bit better.
[11:56] Extremities. Makes sense.
[11:57] Yeah.
[11:58] The weirdo thing, though, here is that they just throw in
[12:02] that flamingos are among nature's most beautiful birds and the strangest.
[12:07] They eat with their heads upside down, sleep with their heads on their backs,
[12:11] and often rest by standing for long periods on one leg.
[12:15] Gotcha. So, flamingos are crazy, and that's why they do it.
[12:19] Right.
[12:21] I've got a study here that says that flamingos who stood in warmer water
[12:28] tend to stand on two feet to kind of go for your theory, that colder water...
[12:35] Okay. Very good.
[12:36] It was a study at the Philadelphia Zoo that flamingos are more likely
[12:42] to stand on one leg if they're in colder water.
[12:44] I don't trust studies that were done in captivity.
[12:47] Okay. Fair enough. Fair enough.
[12:52] I'm also seeing that...
[12:53] Or something in captivity, I should say.
[12:55] Right.
[12:56] Some of the...
[12:58] Some flamingos, their habitat is in toxic caustic bodies of water,
[13:05] and I guess the skin on their legs is very tough, but I think to save
[13:14] a little bit of the flesh on their legs, they maybe just do one at a time.
[13:20] But there's lots of answers to that.
[13:22] Dude, flamingos are crazy.
[13:24] They live 30 years in the wild, 50 years in a zoo.
[13:28] Their knees don't bend backwards.
[13:30] That's their ankle that you're thinking of.
[13:33] Oh.
[13:35] Really?
[13:36] And they're filter feeders.
[13:38] And to Coalson's point about the shrimp, shrimp change color,
[13:43] but I don't think that flamingos generally actually eat shrimp.
[13:48] Yeah.
[13:49] But likewise have a pigmentation thing.
[13:52] Yeah.
[13:53] So it says I've got here that the algae larva and brine shrimp
[14:00] is largely what flamingos eat.
[14:05] And in those things there's a high level of beta carotene.
[14:10] So basically...
[14:11] Bones, just like what turned you orange.
[14:13] Bam.
[14:15] Bam.
[14:17] Bam.
[14:18] Full circle.
[14:19] That's right.
[14:21] And apparently they also poop pink.
[14:23] What?
[14:25] I'm sorry, is that not normal?
[14:27] You guys don't do that?
[14:29] You've got to call the doctor.
[14:31] Is your kid pooping pink?
[14:34] Yeah, my kid.
[14:36] Oh, I am.
[14:38] And mine smells like roses.
[14:40] I don't know.
[14:42] Exactly.
[14:44] Poop, poop, poop.
[14:46] Or at least that's what everybody tells me.
[14:52] Oh, yeah.
[14:54] Zoo flamingos will turn white
[14:56] if their diet is not supplemented with live shrimp
[14:59] or flamingo chow containing carotenoid pigments.
[15:03] So yeah, they're basically white
[15:05] and they're colored from their food.
[15:07] And so is their feces.
[15:09] Flamingo chow is the name of Coalson Finn in high school.
[15:12] It really was.
[15:15] Beat you to it, didn't it?
[15:17] You really did.
[15:21] I was going to go with pink poop.
[15:25] That was the name of your first album.
[15:27] Flamingo chow's first album.
[15:36] Yeah.
[15:38] Why do you not take these band names, Jason,
[15:41] and make these names your band?
[15:43] These are great.
[15:45] Yeah.
[15:46] Waiting for the solo track Brine Shrimp.
[15:50] Hot, hot, hot.
[15:51] Hot track.
[15:52] 12-minute instrument.
[15:55] With guttural yells.
[15:57] Crazy electronica happening.
[16:00] It was experimental.
[16:02] Sing it upside down.
[16:04] Yeah, and turn backward.
[16:06] We'll exercise shit happening.
[16:09] I may have another track name for you
[16:12] related to flamingos.
[16:15] The parents make food in their mouth
[16:20] and that they feed the babies.
[16:27] The article says special liquid baby food.
[16:29] They produce no throats and it's called crop milk.
[16:35] That's a solid track name, crop milk.
[16:38] I mean, the only thing that I actually learned from this
[16:44] is that flamingos are psychopaths.
[16:46] I'm out.
[16:48] Well, there you go.
[16:52] So next time you see a lawn ornament with just one leg,
[16:54] you'll know that it's just trying to stay warm.
[16:56] I'll either kill it or run.
[17:00] Those are the two options.
[17:02] That's it.
[17:03] Fight or flight, man.
[17:06] I thought you actually were diagnosed with fight or fight.
[17:10] What'd you say to me?
[17:15] Come at me, bro.
[17:18] Test me.
[17:20] Nice work.
[17:21] That was surprisingly.
[17:24] We had a lot of tangents.
[17:26] I thought that one was going to be like five minutes.
[17:29] I just was like, oh, we got this one.
[17:31] Instead, we learned all types of stuff.
[17:34] And I learned that you were a miss-colored youth.
[17:37] It was really, it was my cheeks.
[17:39] No, all colors.
[17:41] Okay, that's fair.
[17:43] You can't be wrongly colored.
[17:44] No, you're right.
[17:45] You're right.
[17:46] Yeah, you have a Matt Coalson.
[17:48] No, I shouldn't do any color shaming.
[17:52] I apologize.
[17:54] I am translucent, so.
[17:58] And we have T-shirts.
[18:03] I don't think, I don't even need to go.
[18:04] I was just going to leave it there.
[18:05] Turn it off.
[18:07] The party's over.
[18:09] They don't need an outro for this.
[18:10] No, we don't.
[18:11] It just ends mercifully.
[18:14] What's the opposite of a cliffhanger?