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Those kids, standing in their own group, clad in that drab gray. You'd think they'd show their elders some respect, put on some pink.

Well, give them time. They're only 4 months old. One day, they'll live up to their species' name — pink flamingos.

JOHN SPINK/Staff (ENLARGE)

Keeper Christina Davis watches young pink flamingos after the youngsters were released into the adult flamingo population Friday at Zoo Atlanta.

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Six young pink flamingos stepped uncertainly into the wading pool at Zoo Atlanta on Friday morning, joining about 50 older and more colorful birds already on display. At present, they're pink only in name. A nervous knot of gray, the youngsters looked like a small storm cloud hovering over a lake.

James Ballance, the zoo's curator of birds and small mammals, smiled his approval. The young flamingos were shaky, yes, but they would soon flock with birds of a similar feather.

"They'll grow up to be psychologically perfect flamingos," he said.

Awk! A youngster banded with the number 74 on one leg flapped his wings. Ook! No. 83 answered.

The six are among a group of 16 youngsters hatched in late spring and early summer at the zoo. Until Friday morning, they'd lived together in a pen behind the pond where the adults congregate.

"We had a banner year," Ballance said.

Awk! No. 74, again.

It was a banner morning at the zoo, sunny and 70 degrees. Moms and dads and school groups flocked about everywhere.

Included in the throngs were five little girls, each a first-grader at Carrollton Elementary School, each wearing something pink. They saved the flamingos for the last stop of their visit.

"I don't know why they like them [flamingos] so much," said Jaton Leverette, placing a hand on daughter Anna Grace's shoulder. A pink bow glowed in the child's blond hair.

"It's because they're pink," replied Amy Denney. Her daughter, Ally, nodded and scuffed a pink sneaker on the ground.

Not all of them are pink, not yet. The new kids should have their own adult plumage pink in about two years.

Until then, they'll be as distinct from the adults as Lucky jeans are from Brooks Brothers suits. Be patient with them; they're only kids.