By Kate Reynolds, Sept. 20, 2023
Hurricane Idalia blew into the U.S. on August 26 and landed in the Big Bend region of Florida at a Category 3 strength on August 30. It caused significant damage to thousands of businesses, homes, and other infrastructure along its inland path, resulting in high floodwaters.
But this wasn’t the only result of Hurricane Idalia…
After Idalia left the area, large groups of pink flamingos started showing up all over Florida’s two coasts and the northern Gulf Coast. Three days after the hurricane landed, Alabama, North and South Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee, and Virginia reported flamingo sightings. They were even sighted in Pennsylvania!
We’ve all heard stories of birds and other animals being lifted by hurricanes and dropped off miles away. Birders refer to this as ‘fallout.’ It’s not unusual for flamingos to show up in Florida after a storm. Groups of flamingos were found in the Caribbean, where Idalia lingered for a few days before blowing its way up the Gulf of Mexica and into Florida.
What is unheard of is getting this many flamingos in so many places. The flamboyance of flamingos (sometimes called a pat) was even seen along the Bolivar Peninsula in Texas. Bird watchers and ornithologists (people who study birds) estimated that more than 150 flamingos were sighted over five days. The long-legged pink-wading birds were sighted across eight states.
The Audubon Society of Alabama told the Washington Post that the flamingo sightings may be a once-in-a-century event.“To my knowledge, which goes back like 50 years, never anything as spectacular as this [has occurred],” said executive director Scott Duncan. “This is jaw-dropping how many flamingos have been seen.”
It’s comforting to know that despite Idalia’s devastation, some good news about the hurricane made people smile.