Hurricane Idalia blows flamingos into Texas for rare visit

Record ID: 1742181

  • Title: Hurricane Idalia blows flamingos into Texas for rare visit
  • Date: 14th September 2023
  • Summary: SUGARLAND, TEXAS, UNITED STATES (SEPTEMBER 12, 2023) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE)(English) MIKE WILLIAMS, BIRDER AND PHOTOGRAPHER, SAYING: “And when we got there, we were very surprised that there were no birders at all. It was just fishing guys on the peninsula. And as soon as we walked out, there they were. They were right in front of us. In fact, I think of anybody, we got t
  • Embargoed: 28th September 2023 20:33
  • Keywords: american flamingos birdwatching flamingos hurricane idalia
  • Location: Galveston + Sugarland, Texas + Port St. Joe + St. Petersburg + Tallahassee + Jacksonville + New Port Richey, United States + Celestun, Yucatan, Mexico
  • City: Galveston + Sugarland, Texas + Port St. Joe + St. Petersburg + Tallahassee + Jacksonville + New Port Richey, United States + Celestun, Yucatan, Mexico
  • Country: US
  • Topics: Environment,North America,Nature/Wildlife
  • Reuters ID: LVA004212314092023RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: In early September, birders Mike Williams and Shawn Chaney hit an unexpected jackpot: they spotted five American flamingos on Bolivar Peninsula Galveston, Texas. It was the first sighting of American Flamingos in Galveston in 15 years, according to the eBird online database.
    “As soon as we walked out, there they were,” Williams said. “They were right in front of us. In fact, I think of anybody, we got the closest views. We were very lucky.”
    The northernmost part of American flamingos’ range previously included South Florida, but by 1900 the species was nearly extinct in the U.S., according to Florida Audubon Executive Director Julie Wraithmell.
    “Like many wading birds with glamorous feathers, they were persecuted for the use of their feathers in fashion at the end of the 1800s, and by 1900, they had been extirpated from Florida as their breeding range.,” Wraithmell said.
    Wraithmell said Hurricane Idalia redirected several American flamingos likely flying between their native ranges of Cuba and the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico. After the Category 4 hurricane made landfall in Florida on Aug. 30, American flamingos were seen in Florida, as far north as Ohio and Pennsylvania and westward in Texas.
    “it's very common, actually, for birds to be carried along with hurricanes,” Wraithmell said. “You can imagine being a bird as a hurricane is passing over, easily getting trapped within the eye of the hurricane and wanting to stay there in the relative calm until it reaches land and you can land.”
    Williams said the five American flamingos he spotted looked like a family unit – two adults and three juveniles – and didn’t appear to stay in the region long. He said about one day after seeing the flamingos, there were no further sightings of the non-resident birds in the Galveston area.
    (Production: Evan Garcia)
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