Has Pinky Returned?

Recently, Wakulla resident Bruce Means went fishing and saw a large pink bird on an oyster bar off the St. Marks Lighthouse. He posted a picture of the flamingo to Facebook along with photos of several impressive fish that he had caught. The local birding community was impressed and not by the fish. Birders flocked to the refuge to look for the bird.

The flamingo was relocated several times on oyster bars near the mouth of the St. Marks River. It is now being seen on the interior ponds at St. Marks and the question has arisen, “Is this the return of Pinky?”

In late October of 2018, following the passage of Hurricane Michael, a flamingo showed up at the refuge and was promptly dubbed “Pinky”. Except for a few brief absences, Pinky stayed for five years. Last year Hurricane Idalia pushed large numbers of migrating flamingos north. At one point, there were seven flamingos at the refuge.  Apparently caught up in this Pink Wave after Hurricane Idalia, Pinky disappeared when the Idalia flamingos left.

Hurricane associated flamingos are not new. St. Marks has a long history of Hurricane driven flamingos. In previous flamingo sightings at the refuge in the 1960s, 70s and 90s, birds had been discovered shortly after a hurricane made landfall. We are only three months past a close brush with Hurricane Helene and this flamingo could have arrived on that storm. Also, there are still occasional Florida sightings of leftover Idalia flamingos and one of them could have wandered up the coast.

A lot of people want to believe that this is the return of Pinky. Now, Pinky was an odd flamingo and may have longed for the solitude that it found on the refuge. Rita, who runs the Nature Store at the refuge, tells me she noticed that this flamingo has the same pink birthmark that Pinky had. However, Rita sells flamingo-themed gear at the nature store. 

Flamingos are not rare. There are several hundred thousand of them, mainly in the Caribbean. It seems odd that of that number, a lone flamingo would decide to fly up to the northern Gulf coast. I have considerable doubt that this is the same flamingo that spent five years at the refuge. However, this flamingo is pink, just like Pinky was and it could be the same bird.

Come down to St. Marks and see what you think.

Photo credit: Mike Fitzgerald