{"id":349375,"date":"2025-12-29T15:32:18","date_gmt":"2025-12-29T20:32:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cltampa.com\/?p=349375"},"modified":"2025-12-29T17:10:27","modified_gmt":"2025-12-29T22:10:27","slug":"floridas-flamingo-population-needs-intervention-for-recovery-ucf-study-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cltampa.com\/news\/floridas-flamingo-population-needs-intervention-for-recovery-ucf-study-says\/","title":{"rendered":"Florida’s flamingo population needs intervention for recovery, UCF study says"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Credit:<\/span> freeimages.com<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

University of Central Florida researchers using genetic information say that, with intervention, depleted flamingo populations in Florida can recover. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A study led by biology graduate student Jessica Folsom used genomic data in determining the flamingo population and its genetics in Florida and proposes strategies to restore the population. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Researchers found that flamingos in Florida and around the Caribbean display few genetic differences, including those held in captivity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Flamingos in Florida often fly in for a few months, but building a long-term breeding population would pose a challenge. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor more than a century, there were almost no conservation measures for flamingos in the U.S.,\u201d said Steven Whitfield, a co-author of the study and a director at the Audubon Nature Institute. \u201cThat\u2019s partly because flamingos were long considered a non-native species to Florida. With our work, we want to show they have always belonged here and there\u2019s a scientific basis to support their recovery.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the research, the long-term outlook for flamingos is \u201cgood,\u201d but the existing population is not sufficient for recovery. \u201cMoreover, habitat destruction, pollution and warming temperatures add to the challenges they face.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNatural recovery of the flamingo is unlikely in Florida without intervention,\u201d Whitfield said in a news release<\/a>. \u201cBut our study shifts that conversation. We can now confidently say ex-situ [managed in zoos or aquariums] flamingos are genetically compatible with wild populations, which opens possibilities for a future release program, even though logistical hurdles remain.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reintroduction, although, must be guided by policy, the researchers said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lawmakers, for at least five years<\/a>, have proposed replacing the mockingbird with the flamingo as the state bird.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In advance of this coming session, SB 150<\/a>, filed by Sen. Gayle Harrell, a Republican from Stuart, passed the Environment and Natural Resources committee unanimously last month and has two more committees dates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HB 11<\/a>, an identical bill filed in the House by Republican Reps. Jim Mooney from Islamorada and Chip LeMarca from Lighthouse Point, passed the Natural Resources & Disasters subcommittee last month and has two more committees to pass.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those bills would designate the scrub-jay as the state songbird, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe flamingo is iconic to Florida. When I was growing up it was flamingos and palm trees. \u2026 But the awareness really comes with the conservation. The flamingo is now thriving in Florida,\u201d Mooney said during a December House committee meeting<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Extirpation<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Hunting and habitat loss during the 1800s resulted in extirpation of Florida\u2019s flamingos by the early 1900s. Since then, the bird has shown \u201conly faint signs of a true comeback,\u201d according to the research. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDespite high vagility and the presence of nearby flocks in the Caribbean, the Florida population has yet to show substantial recovery,\u201d the report says. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe ex-situ [managed] population had higher diversity compared to wild birds and were not significantly differentiated from the wild population, making these flocks possible sources for reintroduction projects,\u201d the study says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Flamingo representation is common in Florida, being displayed, for example, on state lottery branding<\/a> and a ginormous<\/a> piece of art in the Tampa airport.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs a native Floridian who grew up in Tallahassee, Florida, I was fascinated and a little surprised to see the flamingo as a prominent state icon, yet I had never seen one in the wild,\u201d said Folsom, the researcher who led the study. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hoffman said that zoo flocks, including Zoo Miami\u2019s, were founded after a Hialeah horse racetrack owner released about 20 flamingos in the wild in the 1920s to boost his business. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Flamingos are protected by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service List<\/a> of Birds Protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 2023. That law makes it illegal to hunt, kill, sell, export, or transport any migratory bird without a permit from the federal government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The study was published in the American Ornithological Society\u2019s Ornithological Applications journal. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to a 2024 Audubon Florida report<\/a>, \u201cOur iconic American Flamingos blown in from Hurricane Idalia in 2023 continue to remain in Everglades National Park thanks to available forage and quality habitat\u2014a bright pink indicator of the success of our Everglades conservation efforts.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An Audubon survey found 101 wild American Flamingos in Florida in February 2024, nearly half in Florida Bay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFlamingos were historically numerous in Florida until the 19th century plume trade\u2014when an ounce of feathers was worth more than gold\u2014decimated wading birds in South Florida,\u201d the Audubon report states.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEven after legislation and Audubon wardens protected these birds, extensive draining and ditching of the Everglades destroyed their habitat. Now that restoration momentum is flowing in the River of Grass, we are hopeful that protected wetlands and improved water flow will create enough habitat resources for the Hurricane Idalia flamingos to survive and thrive here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\nFlorida Phoenix<\/a> is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Florida Phoenix maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Michael Moline for questions: info@floridaphoenix.com<\/a>.\n\n\n\n

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A study\u00a0led by biology graduate student Jessica Folsom used genomic data in determining the flamingo population and its genetics in Florida and proposes strategies to restore the population.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2122,"featured_media":322661,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":false,"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","apple_news_api_created_at":"2025-12-29T20:32:32Z","apple_news_api_id":"f38cc182-f8e0-4be0-9029-70c95a398bc3","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2025-12-29T22:10:33Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABQ==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/A84zBgvjgS-CQKXDJWjmLww","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"newspack_collection_is_cover_story":false,"newspack_collection_post_order":0,"_newspack_byline_active":false,"_newspack_byline":"","newspack_featured_image_position":"hidden","newspack_post_subtitle":"Florida has only about 100 of its state bird in the wild.","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_show_updated_date":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[64,24],"tags":[67573,23467,135844],"newspack_collection_taxonomy":[135839],"newspack_collection_section":[],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"coauthors":[275,127],"class_list":["post-349375","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-florida-news","category-news","tag-flamingos","tag-ucf","tag-wildlife-preservation","entry"],"apple_news_notices":[],"yoast_head":"\nFlorida's flamingo population needs intervention for recovery, UCF study says - 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