Flamingos captured on video on a sandbar near Sanibel, Florida
Flamingos first appeared in the region after Hurricane Idalia last year.
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Just over a year ago, Hurricane Idalia brought hundreds of flamingos from Mexico to the eastern United States, and it appears that some of the birds still linger in the Sunshine State.
Florida has long had a love affair with American flamingos (Phoenicopterus ruber). Our lottery tickets feature a picture of a flamingo, although some researchers doubt that the bird actually lived here in large numbers.
There was even a town called Flamingo, which is now a major access point to Everglades National Park and Florida Bay.
And now it seems the birds are here to stay after being caught and blown here by Hurricane Idalia.
Since Idalia, there have been at least a few dozen of these giant pink birds in Florida, mostly lining coastal reserves and undeveloped mangrove islands.
Flamingos are about 1.50 meters tall and weigh up to 3.6 kilograms. They are widespread in large parts of the Caribbean.
Last summer, the birds were distributed across much of the eastern United States, including Ohio – more than 1,000 miles from their native Mexico.
John Hunt of Matlacha has seen them about 10 times since they first appeared last summer.
Hunt, who has lived on the island community since 2016, said they are an integral part of the Pine Island Sound area.
“There were some in Cayo Costa (state park) and you had to take a backbay boat to get there and then walk, but I didn’t want to bother them,” Hunt said of his flamingo sightings. “As far as I know, they’re no longer there on Black Skimmer Island.”
A flock of 50 to 70 birds lived in the Lake Ingraham portion of Cape Sable in Everglades National Park. They were observed by The News-Press during a canoe trip through the park and reported by other campers and park rangers.
More: Reporter discovers flamingo sanctuary on 11-day canoe trip through the Everglades
The birds have been spotted along the west coast of the state as well as in areas such as Merritt Island on the east coast.
The state supports the assumption that flamingos are native to extreme southern Florida.
“The FWC considers flamingos to be native to Florida, and this is not a new determination,” states a Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) website. “Flamingos were native to Florida, but disappeared from the state around the turn of the 20th century. After about 1925, people established captive flamingo colonies in South Florida, including a breeding colony at Hialeah Park Race Track in the 1930s that still exists.”
Most flamingos are seen in the far south of Florida
According to the FWC, the birds are found primarily in the Florida Bay Area and the historic Everglades system.
“In Florida, American flamingos have been observed along much of the state’s coastline; however, outside of Hialeah, more than 95% of observations have occurred in the Everglades, Biscayne Bay, and the Florida Keys,” FWC says. “In addition, flamingos are increasingly being reported in the shallow wetlands that have been created along the northern edge of the Everglades.”
Hunt said he hopes the birds stay, nest and become a permanent part of Pine Island Sound.
More: Florida’s real flamingos: Pink treasures are still being spotted on the state’s west coast
“Considering they’ve never been here (before Idalia), I’d like to see them stay,” he said.
Hunt said the birds spend much of their time inside the mangrove islands, places where few people venture.
“Often they are in areas that are inaccessible,” Hunt said.
Experts estimate that there are about 300,000 flamingos living in the Caribbean.
