125 Flamingos Mark Florida's Biggest Flamboyance in 11 Years
While conducting a wading bird survey in June, avian ecologist Mark Cook discovered something breathtaking - 125 American flamingos, traversing the Everglades in the largest reported flamboyance in Florida since 2014.
Eleven years ago, 147 flamingos were seen in the northern part of the Everglades. Cook’s sighting along the Florida Bay coastline over the summer indicates that flamingos are returning to Florida’s shores.
It was Cook’s last survey of the season, and it turned out to be his most eventful. Other water fowls were the objective of the mission, but you don’t complain about more than 100 flamingos falling into your lap.
“While looking for foraging wood storks and spoonbills along the Florida Bay coastline, my pilot James spotted two groups of birds - first, a group of three foraging in Garfield Bight, which was pretty interesting in itself given the birds seem to be being corralled by a small lemon shark,” Cook posted on Facebook on June 29. “Then, as we rounded the headland of Snake Bight, James pointed out a large group of roseate spoonbills in the distance, which isn’t an unexpected sight in this area. Except on closer inspection, we realized they weren’t spoonbills - they were a group of 122 flamingos, the largest single flock recorded in Florida since the 147 seen in STA2 (Stormwater Treatment Area 2) in 2014. Moreover, the grand total of 125 birds in the bay is probably the largest count since the early 1900s!”
A week earlier, Cook came across about 30 flamingos in the northern Everglades, an exciting discovery itself. Little did he know it would seem minor compared to what would come his way the following week.
Sightings of the fabulous fowl have increased dramatically post-Hurricane Idalia in 2023, which swept up many mid-flight flamingos and dispersed them across the United States in places you’d never expect. Unsurprisingly, they didn’t stick in places like Ohio and Massachusetts, but it appears that they may have found a home in Florida - an Audubon Florida survey conducted from Feb. 18-25, 2024, across Florida unearthed more than 100 flamingos throughout the state.
“We are thrilled that there are flamingos that have remained in Florida after being blown here in 2023 by Hurricane Idalia,” said Audubon Florida Director of Research Jerry Lorenz in 2024. “I actually suspect that 100 flamingos is the floor of this new population, and there could be more that were not counted during the one-week survey. We are continually monitoring for breeding flamingos.”
Cook may have proved Lorenz right. His sighting illustrates another notch in the belt of those who argue that flamingos are native to Florida, and the continued reports of the bird’s existence in the state encourages hope that they are returning in full bloom.
Flamingos fans should understand where these pink birds are popping up, though. Nearly all flamingo sightings in Florida are occurring within Everglades, Biscayne Bay, and the Florida Keys, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC). In other words, don’t expect flamboyances of flamingos to fly overhead during your trip to Orlando. But if seeing a flamingo in the wild is on your bucket list, it’s looking increasingly likely that you won’t need a passport to get the job done.
Whether or not the flamingos Cook found stay in Florida for all or most of the year or if they bounce around the Caribbean is unknown. He and his pilot did their best to observe and follow the flamingos, but the sound of the helicopter and their immense speed made it difficult, he explained in his Facebook post. Nevertheless, shrimp is no longer the only pink thing brewing in Floridian waters.
All photos credited to Mark Ian Cook Photography.
