Flamingos are a majestic anomaly of bipedicular balance. Turns out, they probably stand on one leg passively without any muscle activity. Professor Young-Hui Chang and Lena H. Ting prove this and more in a series of experiments recently published in Biology Letters. “By contrast, the cadaveric flamingo could not be stably held in a two-legged pose, suggesting a greater necessity for active muscle force to stabilize two-legged versus one-legged postures,” they wrote. Researchers collected ground reaction components and reference video on subjects as they stood on a force plate. This appears to be the first functional investigation of one-legged standing in flamingos with respect to orthopedic anatomy and behavior.
The Bioengineering Blog 