09/02/2023                                                                            
                                    
                                    
                                                                        
                                        Sarasota County Lifeguards just rescued an injured juvenile flamingo at Siesta Key Beach! This is pretty crazy because there are not normally flamingos in this part of Florida.
Hurricane Idalia blew in all kinds of flamingos during the storm. Itโs believed that all of these flamingos are from Mexico or islands in the Caribbean! Some experts believe that the birds are from the Yucatan, that they were traveling from Mexico to Cuba, and that Idalia simply blew them off course.
No one knows exactly how many of the great omnivores are in Florida right now, but some ornithologists have speculated on social media that there may be as many as 70 of the pink-and-gray birds that were blown off course.
An American flamingo hangs out with a flock of American white pelicans in the Rookery Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve in the 10,000 Islands on Friday, Jan.14, 2022.  Dozens of flamingos were reported across the west coast of Florida Wednesday as Hurricane Idalia passed to the north.
This isnโt the first time flamingos or other exotic birds have been blown to Florida during a hurricane or tropical storm. Many flew in with Hurricane Michael in 2018 and have not left. No oneโs really sure how theyโd get home, or where home even is located.  
๐ธ Robert Martini