Flamin’s go wherever the wind blows.
Five bright pink tropical birds were spotted frolicking just off the shore of Wisconsin’s Lake Michigan waters on Friday, marking the first time flamingos have been sighted in the state.
A horde of birdwatchers already caught a glimpse of three adult birds with pink plumage and two gray juveniles just 8 feet from the beach in Port Washington, a city located 44 miles north of Milwaukee. and a crowd of people. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.
“This is huge,” said Jim Edelhuber of Waukesha, an avid bird watcher and photographer. He rushed to watch the waterfowl after word of their visit spread on social media.
“This is unbelievable.”
The birds seemed happy as Wisconsin enjoyed temperatures near 80 degrees on the first day of fall.
Ryan Brady, a conservation biologist with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, said the flamingos were mostly sleeping on shore banks after landing in the Badger State early that morning.
Wildlife biologists theorize that the birds were thrown off course from their native Mexico and Cuba by Hurricane Idalia’s violent wind gusts and pushed into the northern states.
After the storm, dozens of flamingos appeared in unusual locations across the country, including Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio and Pennsylvania.
Flamingos have been seen swimming in the Florida waters for the first time in 100 years.
This bird made its home in the Sunshine State until hunting nearly wiped it out in the early 19th century, when fashion trends shifted to the popularity of feathers.
The rare flamingos that call Florida their permanent home make up only 1% of the world’s flamingo population and live in a semi-domesticated environment. by Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
“The only time I saw (flamingos) was on a trip to Aruba,” said Debbie Gaspar of Port Washington, who took a short trip to the lakefront with her husband, Mark.
“If I don’t send a picture of this, my relatives in Georgia won’t believe it.”
But flamingos aren’t the “first” celebrity bird to make a historic visit to Wisconsin this year.
The flame-colored goldfish, a bright orange tropical bird, was discovered in nearby Cudahy province in May.
