Last week, we discussed a flock of flamingos Hurricane Idalia blew into Tampa Bay. I subscribe to eBird’s Florida rare bird alerts, and there have been flamingos sighted all over the state since then.
Yesterday, the Tampa Bay Times reported that a crew in a boat assessing beach erosion from the storm spotted a “confused and exhausted” flamingo off St. Pete Beach. They netted it and handed it over to the SPCA. It is now in the care of Seaside Seabird Sanctuary, which provided an update on Instagram:
View this post on Instagram
I like how the sanctuary’s Instagrammer respects the bird’s pronoun preferences! (They’re probably unsure of its sex — it’s hard to tell with some birds.)
Open thread.
ETA: Update to the update — Tampa Bay Times just posted fresh flamingo content — and the bird has a name — update below the fold!
“The people who found it call it Peaches,” said Melissa Edwards, director of the Dr. Marie L. Farr Avian Hospital at Indian Shores’ Seaside Seabird Sanctuary, where the flamingo was taken.
But that doesn’t mean the bird is female.
“It’s hard to know with flamingos,” Edwards said. “Males are a little bit larger but it’s hard to tell with just one. So, we’re just using they…”
“There were no major injuries,” Edwards said. “But they were pretty tuckered out. So, we did some assisted tube feedings and fluid therapy until they started eating on their own, which was Sunday. Slowly, they’re regaining their strength via exercise time.”
Peaches is too tall to stretch their wings and legs in one of the sanctuary’s typical outdoor exercise pens, so the bird has been using a separate room inside the hospital.
“We call it recess,” Edwards laughed…
Edwards hopes that Peaches can be released by the end of the week.
In the meantime, local bird watching groups are monitoring the movements of groups of flamingos so that Peaches can rejoin their friends.
“They’re flap flapping a little more actively,” Edwards said. “They will be fine.”
Yay!
A decade of Juicing
MattF
Ha. Such a weird-looking birb. All legs and neck.
BeautifulPlumage
Where would the flock have blown in from? Glad it’s getting care so it can be released again.
Cameron
Yep. Plenty flamingos up and down the beaches in Sarasota -Bradenton, too. They better not be woke, though.
BeautifulPlumage
@MattF: it’s how the leg joint goes back that gets me – looks like it should be a knee and bend the other way. So graceful, though.
CaseyL
Seeing how many people do love and care for animals, wild and domestic, is one of the things that keeps me going.
Alison Rose
Poor birb. I’m glad their getting better, although it does a bit like they’re thinking “wtf am i doing here, rebecca?”
trollhattan
My advice on this Monday pretending to be a Tuesday: don’t be the zebra.
jonas
Unlikely. According to Wikipedia, “a group of flamingos is called a ‘flamboyance’.”
Betty Cracker
Update added — new content from the TBT, including the bird’s name and release prospects.
Eyeroller
@BeautifulPlumage: In birds that is the ankle joint. The knee and hip are nearly always hidden under the feathers. The lower “leg” is the foot. They walk (or hop, depending on species) on their toes.
Cameron
@jonas: Flamboyance? WTF? That sounds like some sort of Eurosexual shit. I doubt that Puddinghands of the White Boots clan would countenance such vileness in the free state of Florida.
TaMara
@BeautifulPlumage: No idea, but there is a beautiful natural area in Cuba that I’ve always wanted to go to, miles and miles of flamingos.
C Stars
Yay! The flamingos are one of my favorite parts of the zoo–so striking, so loud!
Betty Cracker
@BeautifulPlumage: According to what I’ve read, they probably got blown north from Cuba or Florida Bay (the area between the Everglades and the Keys). It’s happened before — they stay ahead of the storm and end up farther north than they usual range.
Albatrossity
Send a couple of those to Kansas, please. I guarantee that they would have an instant fan club!
Geminid
@Albatrossity: Hey Albatrossity, I really appreciate your work! I was bopping around Turkish conservation Twitter and ran into a photographer who reminded me of you. It’s Alper Tuydes, who tweets as @alpertuydes, “chasing the birds of Turkiye.”
His most recent post is a photo of a Snake Eagle. They are migrating in large numbers now, and Mr. Tuydes said that in unsettled weather they sometimes fly low enough for people to see their yellow eyes.
mrmoshpotato
@C Stars:
Please stop going to the zoo to throw around the flamingos. 😁
Elizabelle
“Fresh flamingo content.” Somehow, I just like that phrase. Sounds breathless.
Timill
@mrmoshpotato: But how you gonna play croquet otherwise?
Ruckus
@MattF:
That’s standard flamingo.
They do look a bit malnourished – the body looks a bit small for the legs and neck.