Flamingos blown off course by Idalia spotted in Ohio, Pennsylvania
- Wild flamingos have been spotted in Florida, Georgia, Pennsylvania and more
- Experts say they were blown off course by Hurricane Idalia
- Birding association: 'Seeing them in places that we didn’t expect them”
In this Friday, July 15, 2016, file photo, two American flamingos tussle in their exhibit space at Zoo Miami, Friday, July 15, 2016, in Miami. After nearly a century on its lofty perch, the northern mockingbird’s days may be numbered as the state bird of Florida. The flamingo is one of several birds being considered for a new state bird. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee, File)
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(NewsNation) — Flamingos are popping up in unusual places after being blown off course by Hurricane Idalia, which hit Florida last month.
“We’re seeing flamingos all over the place. We’re seeing them in places that we didn’t expect them,” Nate Swick, the American Birding Association’s digital communications manager told WHYY.
According to Swick, it is a “fairly common phenomenon” for birds to be blown out of their natural habitats after a big storm, but not for flamingos.
In recent days, flamingos have been spotted as far north as Ohio and Pennsylvania. The American Birding Association says Hurricane Idalia forced the tropical bird from the Caribbean into Florida, Virginia, Georgia, North and South Carolina and Kentucky.
“We have never seen anything like this,” Jerry Lorenz, state director of Audubon Florida told CNN. “We will get a flamingo or two following storms [but] this is really unprecedented.”
Wild flamingos are rarely aggressive toward humans but the World Animal Foundation says they shouldn’t be approached as they are naturally afraid of people and may attack if they feel threatened.
