American flamingos are native to Florida. In the 1800s there were hundreds of thousands of flamingos in the state but were hunted almost to extinction for meat and for feathers for ladies’ hats. Due to this history, only a small number of wild flamingos remained in southern Florida and in the Keys, although attractions such as the Tampa Zoo, the Sunken Gardens in St. Petersburg, and Jungle Gardens in Sarasota had resident domesticated flocks.
Fast forward to Hurricane Idalia last week.
After the storm, wild flamingos🦩were spotted up and down the Gulf coast of Florida for the first time in a hundred years. It is thought they were flying north from the Yucatan peninsula to Cuba and were swept up ahead of the storm, pushed off course with an extreme tail wind behind them.
Three different groups dropped out of the storm: one over the Big Bend where Idalia made landfall, another over Howard Park in Tampa Bay, and one on Sanibel Island. A group was even spotted as far north as Ohio!
The Tampa Bay flamboyance (the word for a flock of flamingos) first landed at Howard Park Beach on Wednesday. Exhausted from the voyage, they rested the night before heading a few miles south to Treasure Island. They then flew a more miles south to Fort de Soto Park on Friday, where they are still camped out. Based on their track they’re trying to make it south, perhaps to Cuba.
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if some of them decided to stay! 🦩
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