Wild flamingos have appeared in Wisconsin for the first time
Typically native to the Caribbean Islands, five American flamingos were spotted in Port Washington, Wisconsin, over the weekend, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Wildlife biologists attribute the 1,500-mile displacement of these tropical birds to Hurricane Idalia, the article noted. Reported as a Category 3 hurricane, Idalia hit Keaton Beach near Tallahassee on Aug. 30, according to CBS.
Not only did the storm cause massive power outages, building damages and flooding, it also displaced flamingos, leaving them in Alabama, North and South Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia, Texas, and now Wisconsin, per USA Today.
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Bill Pranty, author of “Birds of Florida,” said that birds can be displaced from their homes by traveling in the eyes of hurricanes, getting caught in a storm’s outer bands, or attempting to fly around storms. He suspects that “as Idalia moved north from the Yucatan, the birds traveled into the U.S. in the storm’s counter-clockwise rain bands,” according to USA Today.
Regardless of how the flamingos arrived, crowds of bird-lovers have given these Wisconsin visitors a warm welcome.
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Conservation biologist Ryan Brady said the five birds mainly just slept on the beach of Port Washington after landing, according to the New York Post.
“I’ve only ever seen (flamingos) on our trips to Aruba,” said Debbie Gasper of Port Washington, who made the short trip to the lakefront with her husband Mark, to the Post. “I’m going to have to send photos of this or our relatives in Georgia aren’t going to believe it.”
