For years, the only flamingoes in Florida were at zoos, Hialeah Race Track or decorated people’s lawns.
Just when the Audubon Society had announced flamingoes were back, a flock that had been visiting for annually for several years went AWOL.
A group of scientists in 2020 published a paper made the case that the occasionally seen flamingo in Florida is evidence of a recovering species that disappeared from Florida in the early 1900s.
One example of the return of the flamingo is a flock of migrating flamingoes that had returned to the same spot in Palm Beach County for a decade, according to the Audubon Society. The number varied: In 2014, 147 were counted. In 2015, there were eight.
Mark Cook, lead scientist of Everglades Systems Assessment at South Florida Water Management District, said: “They keep coming back every year.”
But then, for several years, the flamingoes didn’t return.
In 2022, however, a few flamingoes appeared in their chosen spot and the Audubon chapter in Palm Beach County organized field trips to see them. (On one trip, four flamingoes were seen and on a second, two.)
The flamingoes have picked a remote location, a water treatment facility in western Palm Beach County, Stormwater Treatment Area 2 (STA2). It’s a 9,000-acre man-made wetland designed to remove excess nutrients from the water supply. It is 80 miles north of any spot flamingoes had been sighted in the recent past. (In the 1800s, there were hundreds of thousands of flamingoes along the coast.)
The flamingoes only visit the Palm Beach County site in spring, and scientists don’t know where they come from or where they go.
Flamingoes have been sighted regularly in the Florida Keys and in Everglades National Park. They have also been spotted near Fort Myers and the St. Mark’s National Wildlife Refuge in Florida’s Big Bend area. In January 2022 a lone wild flamingo was seen in brilliant contrast to a flock of white pelicans in the Ten Thousand Islands area off Naples.
The Audubon Society says the research group that produced the 2020 paper looked to past records of flamingo sightings.
“The research group analyzed historical evidence of American Flamingos in Florida from narrative accounts and museum records and contrasted that information to sightings of the pink bird. They concluded that American Flamingos once occurred naturally in large flocks in Florida before disappearing in the early 1900’s. Collected data since 1950 add up to 500 observations of American Flamingos in Florida with an increase in frequency and flock size over time.”
Each spring, then, birders wait to see if flamingoes will return and thrive.
Want to see flamingoes up close and easy?
We have loved seeing flamingoes in two historic Florida gardens:
Flamingo Gardens: has the biggest tree and the largest collection of native wildlife in Florida. It combines history, beauty, flora and fauna for a fun outing. You can hand-feed the flamingoes, located in a beautiful lagoon here.
St. Petersburg Sunken Gardens, St. Petersburg: Starting in 1911, George Turner Sr., an avid gardener, drained a lake in a sinkhole and used the rich soil to plant fruit trees, flowering bushes and Royal Palm trees. This historic garden in downtown St. Petersburg has a flock of flamingoes in a lovely setting.
Birding resources:
- Florida Great Birding and Wildlife Trail: How to use this excellent website.
- Flamingoes in Florida: Back for good?
- Birds hold court at Wakodahatchee Wetlands & Green Cay in suburban Palm Beach County
- Wakodahatchee Wetlands in Delray: Wood storks nesting in spring
- Peaceful Waters Sanctuary, Wellington: Top birding spot in sububan Palm Beach County
- Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge: Birds, beauty galore
- White pelicans: How to see spectacular birds wintering in Florida
- Circle B Bar Reserve: Lakeland park is terrific for wildlife
- Thousands of birds migrate over Keys in fall
- St. Augustine Alligator Farm bird rookery is thrilling for birders
- Fort Myers Bunche Beach: Heaven for birders, kayakers
- Naples Bird Rookery Swamp: 9 ways it’s great for hiking, biking
- Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge: Wild spot to hike and see wildlife
- Audubon Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary
The author, Bonnie Gross, travels with her husband David Blasco, discovering off-the-beaten path places to hike, kayak, bike, swim and explore. Florida Rambler was founded in 2010 by Bonnie and fellow journalist Bob Rountree, two long-time Florida residents who have spent decades exploring the Florida outdoors. Their articles have been published in the Sun Sentinel, the Miami Herald, the Orlando Sentinel, The Guardian and Visit Florida.