New Study Shows Flamingos Are Native to Florida

A recent study out of the University of Central Florida (UCF) concluded that flamingos are native to the Sunshine State.

Published in the American Ornithological Society’s Ornithological Applications journal, the student-led study delved deep into the evidence linking the history of American flamingos to Florida.

If you’ve followed this site’s blog for the last few years, then this news is not news to you. This is a topic we have covered on numerous occasions, and the idea that flamingos belong in Florida - despite the bird’s disappearance from the state for many decades - has become more widely accepted in the recent past. But what is particularly compelling about this study is the confirmation that Florida still possesses the proper environment and resources for the fabulous fowl to make its long-awaited resurgence.

Flamingos Are Ready for Florida

Major storms in the last few years have swept more flamingos up into Florida that had otherwise been living elsewhere in the Caribbean, and that some of them have stayed for a while or permanently proves the state’s ability to maintain a flamingo population. This has also created chances for researchers to analyze the genetics of these birds.

“These returning flocks have given us an opportunity to collect contemporary and historical samples to address questions about their genetics and population structure - a central focus of my lab,” Eric Hoffman, professor and chair of UCF’s Department of Biology and one of the study’s co-authors, said in a statement from the university.

Situations like Florida flamingos faced in the early 1900s - human hunting in pursuit of their fabulous feathers - can have serious impacts on a species’ genetics. Inbreeding can especially become common as local numbers dwindle but biological wirings continue. But UCF’s study shows that is not what happened to Florida’s American flamingos.

“In Florida, hunting for feathers could have created those conditions,” Jessica Folsom, the UCF student who led the study, said in a university statement. “However, in our study, we found insignificant levels of inbreeding, little loss of genetic variability, and minimal differentiation between Florida birds, the birds in Florida zoos, and the other populations in the Caribbean and parts of South America.”

Upon review of genetic material from wild Florida flamingos, captive Florida flamingos, and flamingos from elsewhere in the Americas, the study’s researchers concluded that American flamingos are ready to be reintroduced to the wild habitats of Florida.

“One of our most surprising findings was that modern flamingos showed significant genetic variability compared to historical populations,” Folsom explained in the release. “Captive populations showed the greatest genetic variability and minimal inbreeding, meaning they could be strong candidates for reintroduction. Genetic similarities also indicate flamingos from other regions could adapt well to Florida, with limited risk of outbreeding depression.”

So, Now What?

It means Florida residents will soon have another slow-moving, erratic obstacle to deal with on the roads.

I joke, but this does mean that flamingos could experience a triumphant return to the Florida wildlife scene. They will need some help, though.

There have been little to no conservation efforts for flamingos in the United States for more than 100 years, in part because people did not think the fabulous fowl was native to the nation. Now that that myth is getting debunked, it’s time to take steps to encourage and cultivate a wild flamingo population in the Sunshine State.

“Artificial nest mounds can encourage breeding, and decoy flamingos have been used to signal an established flock, helping attract passing birds,” Folsom said in the statement. “Both tactics have shown success in human care and select wild settings.”

The flamingos will not return to Florida without some help from the same species that drove them out in the first place: humans. And we might just be able to do it through our artificial creation of natural habitats in zoos and sanctuaries.

“Natural recovery of the flamingo is unlikely in Florida without intervention,” Steve Whitfield, director of Terrestrial and Wetlands Conservation at the Audubon Nature Institute and a co-author of the study, said in the university’s statement. “But our study shifts that conversation. We can now confidently say ex-situ flamingos are genetically compatible with wild populations, which opens possibilities for a future release program, even though logistical hurdles remain.”