Birds

» Robert Dailey - Flamingos in Houston?

Rosemary:
My nephew, who lives just south fof Houston, Texas, swears he has seen parrots and a flock of flamingos.
Parrots, okay, maybe. I can see a breeding population existing in Houston because we're almost zone 10, and there are many parrots in the American tropics, but flamingos?
He said he was very sure they were flamingos, and not roseate spoonbills, which do live here.
He's not prone to hallucinations, or exagerations for that matter. Could Katrina or some other storm have blown some errant flamingo flock over here, or is there something in the water he's drinking?

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» Rosemary Drisdelle - Flamingos in Houston?

In response to Flamingos in Houston? posted by bobcajun:

Hi Bob,
Well, I'll try to go easy on your nephew... Flamingos do live in the Caribbean and are seen in Texas from time to time. These are either wandering birds or birds that have escaped from captivity (and because flamingos are kept in captivity just about everywhere, a stray one might be sighted anywhere in warm weather). There have only been a handful of verified sightings of flamingos in Texas (Greater Flamingo, Caribbean race), always just one or two birds; a flock is, um, vanishingly unlikely. Perhaps he saw a flamingo hanging out with a group of Roseate Spoonbills?

Rosemary Drisdelle

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» Scottycrank - Flamingos in Houston?

In response to Flamingos in Houston? posted by bobcajun:

Well, I hate to burst the previous responders bubble, but I just went to the San Jacinto monument this Saturday, and my wife and I saw a whole flock of pink flamingos flying overhead from the ship channel to the bay. I would estimate we saw at least thirty different birds flying overhead in a ten minute period and occasionally a few landed in the water near the nature walk dock in the wetlands. Scotty Kilmer

-- posted by Scottycrank

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» Rosemary Drisdelle - Flamingos in Houston?

In response to Flamingos in Houston? posted by Scottycrank:

Hi Scotty,

Thanks for your comment! You had a very unusual experience and I'm hoping you had your camera with you - I'm serious! There have been only about 10 "accepted sightings" of Greater Flamingos (these are the pink ones, also known as the Caribbean flamingo in , well, the Caribbean) in Texas to my knowledge. These were all single birds. You should report your sighting to the Texas Rare Bird Alert at http://www.houstonaudubon.org/index.cfm/...
Cheers,
Rosemary Drisdelle

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