A Pink Flamingo in Houston

[jasons2k]

OK, today I saw something strange.

I was near Beltway 8 and US 59 (NE Side) and I saw a real life pink flamingo flying to the Southwest, with either a youngling or another bird in tow.

I wonder if she got brought-in by Dennis and she is flying west from Fla??

It was a strange, but pretty sight.

And I feel bad if she's flying right into another storm...

[stormie_skies]

You know what's weird? I saw the exact same thing (minus the baby/sidekick) nearly a year ago, while driving over the Galveston causeway. I honestly thought I needed to have my head examined... Perhaps Moody Gardens had some escapees that they neglected to track down?

[LSU2001]

Are you absolutly sure that it was a flamingo, There is another pink bird that looks alot like a flamingo called a Rosete Spoonbill. The first time I saw one here in Louisiana I thought that it was a Flamingo but found out later what it really was. If it is a flamingo it really is lost.
TIm

[GalvestonDuck]

Nope, I've seen a few just over the causeway on the mainland side, near Bayou Vista.

Click here for pic: http://www.naturescreationstx.com/null-horizontal.gif (or maybe not)

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/front/2589952

http://www.birdforum.net/archive/index.php/t-17225

[jbgreig]

I heard of one in Texas City a few months ago.

You sure it was not a rosette spoonbill? I get those in the backyard every year. Here is a pic of one:

http://www.smedesphoto.com/rosette_spoonbill.htm

[Steve]

Most likely it was a Roseate Spoonbill. They are the only pink birds in the Southeast with naturally occurring pink coloration. Flamingoes are only pink because of something special in their diet in their native lands.

I was driving down south through Cameron Parish (LA/TX border) once and saw what I thought were flamingos too. I was corrected on this. But it was still cool to see them. Of course if one escaped the zoo...


[img]http://www.camacdonald.com/birding/RoseateSpoonbill(PW).jpg[/img]

TPS

[LSU2001]

There is a pretty good sized colony of spoonbills around lake charles area, don't know about the texas coast.
TIm

[Steve]

Damn. I thought I was the only one who got suckered into seeing real pink flamingos. That was a bunch of quick replies. I guess it could just as easily have been pink elephants

Steve

[GalvestonDuck]

LOL!

I don't know why the pic isn't showing up. Flamingo or not, they're quite a site.

[LSU2001]

Yeah duckie,
That is definitly a pick of a flamingo, How wild to see one in the US that is not in a zoo.
TIm

[Steve]

Thanks for the link to the article. Most likely, if he stays, he won't stay pink but more likely will turn gray.

Btw, I saw a large crane on someone's lawn in Metairie yesterday. It's not unusual to see them flying around or in canals, and you see even more egrets around the N.O. area, but he was just poking around a shrub. I thought it was odd.

Steve

[LSU2001]

Is this the pic you wanted duckie,
TIM

[johngaltfla]

Seeing pink flamingos is nothing. Nor is seeing pink elephants. Nor pink hurricanes. Hic!






(Just kidding)

[stormie_skies]

Nope, I've seen a few just over the causeway on the mainland side, near Bayou Vista.



http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/front/2589952

http://www.birdforum.net/archive/index.php/t-17225

OMG!!!! Thank you, Duckie! I must have missed that story, but I thought I saw one around the same time frame and in the same area - Pinkie it is, then!

I was pretty sure that it wasn't a roseate spoonbill....when the tide is high they come to wade in the water across from my townhome sometimes, and the ones I have seen have always been shorter and rather slender. What I saw flying over the causeway was MUCH longer...he was a big fella!

[GalvestonDuck]

Is this the pic you wanted duckie,
TIM

Nope, but thanks for trying. I'm not sure what's up with the link for the image. I could understand if it wasn't hot-linkable. But now, I don't even get the pic when I click the link. It's a close-up of the bird.

I'll try to find it again later. Almost 5 on Friday...time to tidy up and GO!

[jasons2k]

Are you absolutly sure that it was a flamingo, There is another pink bird that looks alot like a flamingo called a Rosete Spoonbill. The first time I saw one here in Louisiana I thought that it was a Flamingo but found out later what it really was. If it is a flamingo it really is lost.
TIm

Positive... the tips were black and had a narrow bill.

[stormie_skies]

This absolutely made my day! No one ever believes me when I tell them I saw a flamingo flying over the causeway...

[jasons2k]

Interesting, wonder if the other "friend" is the one I spotted last year??

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/biz ... 91221.html

Escaped Wichita flamingo turns up on Texas coast

Associated Press

WICHITA, Kan. — A flamingo that escaped from the Sedgwick County Zoo has turned up 600 miles away at a national wildlife refuge on the Texas coast and apparently has found a friend.

The pale pink bird was one of two flamingos that fled the Kansas zoo in July 2005.

"He's found a wild Caribbean flamingo friend that is originally from Mexico but probably came up during the hurricanes," said zoo spokeswoman Christan Baumer, referring to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

Biologists who spotted the new bird at the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge on Texas' Gulf Coast identified it by its leg band, and zoo officials confirmed it as one of their missing flamingos.

The escapee does not have a name; it is identified only by number, Baumer said.

The zoo has decided to leave the flamingo in Texas for now.

"Anything we do down there might be very disruptive to the waterfowl already down there," said the zoo's curator of birds, Joe Barkowski. Barkowski said flamingos, which can stand 4 to 5 feet tall and weigh 4 to 8 pounds, are very hearty birds.

Zoo flamingos' feathers are clipped to keep the birds grounded, but last summer the zoo apparently missed clipping the feathers of the two that got away. When a big gust of wind came along, Baumer said, the birds discovered their feathers were long enough to fly.

About half of the zoo's 75 flamingos came from Africa in 2003. They were wild and accustomed to flying, so it's not surprising they would take off on their own, Barkowski said.

"The 600-mile journey it took to get to Aransas is kind of surprising," he said. "We're not seeing migrations of that distance a lot."

Zoo officials said they still haven't heard what happened to the other flamingo that escaped, but they're hoping it's still out there somewhere.

[JonathanBelles]

i dont even see flamingoes down here

[wxman57]

Biking through southwest Houston I occasionally see a pink flamingo in some poorly-landscaped yards.

The pink birds in our area are almost 100% spoonbills, though. They are certainly big and pink.