A Flamingo flock inspires hope. Have the rare birds returned to the Everglades for good?

For the last century, flamingos in Florida were more likely to be spotted on T-shirts and cups in a souvenir shop than flapping around in the wild.

Then last summer, a flock of the rare and beautiful birds — a group is fittingly known as a “flamboyance” of flamingos — was blown to Florida on the fierce winds of Hurricane Idalia.

Eight months later, they remain on the shores of Florida Bay, delighting scientists and inspiring hope that this could be the year they stick around for good. May is the beginning of their nesting season, and researchers are crossing their fingers that the large, apparently healthy population could start popping out fledglings on Florida soil for the first time in a century.

“I am guardedly optimistic,” said Jerry Lorenz, state research director of Audubon Florida. “I can only say I hope so.”

The stately, pink birds have been occasional visitors to the Sunshine State in recent decades, usually in small groups. A few have found semi-permanent winter homes in places like Merritt Island, Tampa Bay and a manmade marsh used to clean polluted water from farms in Palm Beach County.

But, like the snowbirds that famously occupy the condos of this state, they rarely stick around through the summer months.

Lori Oberhofer, a wildlife biologist with Everglades National Park, called it a “good sign” that the flamingos have stuck around so long.

“The species is recovering thanks to protection in the Caribbean and persistence of these recent birds here may be an indicator that flamingos are looking to settle back into South Florida, including Everglades National Park,” she said.

Once it was clear the population made it over the hump of a particularly wet and cool winter, Audubon asked birders across the state to share sightings of the coral-colored birds in a first-ever census of the population in February. The results aren’t available yet, but “hundreds” of sightings were reported in the one-week window, including a flock of around 75 in Florida Bay.

Jon-Paul Haydocy, a field biologist for Florida Audubon, said the only flamingo he regularly saw in Florida Bay for the last few years was one of the iconic Florida lawn ornaments, painted with a dab of white and used by Audubon researchers as a lure for populations of roseate spoonbills, the other pink bird that calls the Everglades home.

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