--- title: Why Do Flamingos Stand on 1 Leg? Science Has the Answer description: Flamingos are known for their one-legged perch, but researchers think they've finally figured out how and why they do it canonical: https://time.com/4792190/why-flamingos-stand-one-leg/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-05-24T14:57:07.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T05:05:34.716Z article:section: Science og:title: Science Finally Discovered Why Flamingos Stand on 1 Leg og:description: The balancing act uses less muscular effort and allows the birds to sway less og:url: https://time.com/4792190/why-flamingos-stand-one-leg/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1817983207ee4bb4/6988ceb00a4a22282f9ce4f8/gettyimages-510812260.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: flamingos-one-leg og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Science Finally Discovered Why Flamingos Stand on 1 Leg twitter:description: The balancing act uses less muscular effort and allows the birds to sway less twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1817983207ee4bb4/6988ceb00a4a22282f9ce4f8/gettyimages-510812260.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Science Finally Discovered Why Flamingos Stand on 1 Leg by [Lisa Marie Segarra](https://time.com/author/lisa-marie-segarra/) ## Lisa Marie Segarra May 24, 2017 2:57 PM UTC  Three flamingos and two swans reflect in the water as they stand in the partly emptied Forggensee lake near Fuessen, southern Germany, on February 17, 2016\. / AFP / dpa / Karl-Josef Hildenbrand / Germany OUT (Photo credit should read KARL-JOSEF HILDENBRAND/AFP/Getty Images) Three flamingos and two swans reflect in the water as they stand in the partly emptied Forggensee lake near Fuessen, southern Germany, on February 17, 2016\. / AFP / dpa / Karl-Josef Hildenbrand / Germany OUT (Photo credit should read KARL-JOSEF HILDENBRAND/AFP/Getty Images)Photograph by Karl-Josef Hildenbrand—Getty/AFP by [Lisa Marie Segarra](https://time.com/author/lisa-marie-segarra/) ## Lisa Marie Segarra May 24, 2017 2:57 PM UTC [Flamingos](http://time.com/4385969/turkey-lake-tuz-salt/) are known for their one-legged perch, but researchers think they’ve finally figured out how and why they do it. The balancing act requires less muscular effort and allows the birds to sway less, according to a report [published in The Royal Society’s _Biology Letters._](http://rsbl.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/13/5/20160948#sec-5) The flamingos could even sleep while on one leg. The researchers said this is likely due to the [posture](http://time.com/3394589/slumping-makes-you-sad/) engaging a central point of force, which allows for less muscle activity. For the study, scientists also compared [cadaver](http://time.com/3092090/burns-collection-exhibit-mummy/) birds and live ones. They found that cadavers could not support themselves on two legs, but could remain upright on one. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4792190/why-flamingos-stand-one-leg/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4792190/why-flamingos-stand-one-leg/"},"headline":"Science Finally Discovered Why Flamingos Stand on 1 Leg","datePublished":"2017-05-24T14:57:07.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T05:05:34.716Z","description":"The balancing act uses less muscular effort and allows the birds to sway less","url":"https://time.com/4792190/why-flamingos-stand-one-leg/","keywords":["animals","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1817983207ee4bb4/6988ceb00a4a22282f9ce4f8/gettyimages-510812260.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Lisa Marie Segarra","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/lisa-marie-segarra/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1817983207ee4bb4/6988ceb00a4a22282f9ce4f8/gettyimages-510812260.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"flamingos-one-leg","caption":"GERMANY-ANIMALS-FLAMINGO","creditText":"Photograph by Karl-Josef Hildenbrand—Getty/AFP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/animals/","name":"animals"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4792190/why-flamingos-stand-one-leg/","name":"Science Finally Discovered Why Flamingos Stand on 1 Leg"}}]}] ```