Why do flamingos have bent beaks?

The beak of a flamingo looks as if it has been broken in half and the halves bent downwards and rejoined. As you might expect there is a very good reason for this peculiar shape. Flamingos like to live in shallow lagoons and lakes. Despite their large size and their large beaks flamingos feed on the smallest of organisms in the water. The flamingo stalks along with its head bent right down to dip the beak in the water. In this position the upper half is underneath and the beak is now an ideal scooping organ. The flamingo sweeps its head from side to side through the water to collect tiny mollusks, crustaceans and single-celled algae. As the tongue pumps water through the beak, this food is caught on a sieve-like structure inside and passed down the throat.