undreds of flamingos fly low over a lake,


their wings almost touching the water. One bird drops its long, pink legs toward the water. Splash. One foot touches down. T en, plip, plip, plip. T e flamingo runs through shallow water, its wings flapping as it slows, then stops. Bird aſt er bird lands. T ey crowd together,


honking and rustling their feathers. T ey turn the blue lake into a noisy sea of pink. T e birds look calm, and the lake looks safe,


yet there’s danger all around them. Clouds of steam rise into the air as boiling water bubbles up from hot springs. It’s hot enough to cook any birds that get too close to the springs.


T e lake water isn’t quite as hot where the


flamingos gather. It’s safe to stand in, but the birds can’t drink it. It’s got too many natural salts and minerals in it. T ey make the water in this kind of lake—called a soda lake—more salty than seawater. Even so, thousands of these flamingos flock


to this extreme environment. In fact, their very survival depends on this lake and a few others like it. T e way these birds interact with the living


and nonliving parts of this ecosystem keeps them alive. A closer look at the lives of these flamingos shows how.


Hundreds of fl amingos fl ock to this hot soda lake.


AFRICA


Great Rift Valley


4 NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC EXTREME EXPLORER


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