Scientists have watched flamingos daily and they've found out that when sleeping, flamingos stand on one leg. But the question remains, why? Matthew Anderson, came up with two theories, one was that sanding on one leg would reduce muscle fatigue and they would be able to run away if a predator came. The second theory was that it maintained the body temperature. So Anderson wanted to test these theories so he watched flamingos over a period of time to see what would happen. As Anderson watched the flamingos and he realized that flamingos run faster when both of their legs are out. So that eliminated one of his theories. So he decided to test the other theory, so he watched flamingos in cool and hot weather and it seems that in hot weather, the flamingos legs are out except for when they are in water, because water is a major heat loss for flamingos. But in cool or cold weather, they stand on one leg to conserve body heat. So in the end, Anderson figured out what the problem was in flamingo stance, and it was thermoregulation.
http://www.livescience.com/animals/090917-flamingos-one-leg.html
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