The most photogenic comeback in South Florida is unfolding in the shallow, glassy waters of Florida Bay, where American flamingos, birds once all but erased from the state, are again wading within sight of Everglades National Park’s aptly named Flamingo outpost.
Photographers working the remote flats of Snake Bight have documented as many as 50 flamingos at a time this past winter, and researchers estimate roughly 60 birds now count as regulars in the Flamingo area, though the wary waders can be difficult to track down across the bay’s vast mudflats.
The sightings build on a milestone survey in which an avian ecologist counted 125 flamingos in Florida Bay, the largest flamboyance recorded in South Florida in a decade and the biggest since a group of 147 was spotted in the northern Everglades in 2014.
Blown In by a Hurricane, and Staying
Many of the birds trace their arrival to 2023, when Hurricane Idalia’s winds carried flamingos from Cuba and Mexico into Florida. Instead of leaving, a contingent settled along the Florida Bay coastline. Audubon Florida research director Jerry Lorenz has said the 100 flamingos counted in 2024 likely represent a floor for the new population, with more birds probably going uncounted during brief survey windows.
Scientists caution that no nesting colony has yet been documented, the true test of whether flamingos are reestablishing themselves rather than merely visiting. But they note the birds are returning to an ecosystem in mid-repair, as Everglades restoration work aimed at reviving historic freshwater flow helps estuarine habitats rebound, replenishing the shrimp and other invertebrates that give flamingos their signature color.
For now, the payoff belongs to anyone with a kayak, a long lens and patience. Against the silver-green sweep of Florida Bay at low tide, a line of hot-pink birds reads like a hallucination, living proof that one of Florida’s original icons is finding its way home.
