Pink Flamingos Are Returning To Florida’s Wetlands

Florida was once home to beautiful American flamingo populations, but their populations dropped to the point that the birds lost their status as a native species.

However, flamingos are once again returning to Flordia and their numbers are steadily increasing!

According to a 2021 biological assessment by Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission, Florida is now home to between 0 and 1,000 individual flamingos.

In the report, they wrote: “Florida’s small population occurs on public conservation lands and exhibits a stable or increasing population trend in recent years. The return of this iconic species to the Everglades, Biscayne Bay, and the Florida Keys certainly is worthy of celebration and encouragement.”

The birds’ return is a sign of the state’s $2 billion spent on maintenance and restoration projects, in addition to state mandates preventing farms from creating agricultural runoff.

The state of Florida’s wetlands had begun to deteriorate due to the runoff from farms, which caused algae blooms and killed crustaceans, which the flamingos need to feed on.

Now that the restoration projects and state mandates are in place, the conditions of the wetlands are beginning to improve and the native species that had disappeared, like flamingos, can make their way back!

Hopefully in the next couple of years, Florida can see American Flamingos thriving in the state once again.