You can imagine flamingos, native of Mexico and Caribbean nations, being distributed by Hurricane Idalia around Florida as the storm swept through. It’s not unusual for storms to disperse non-native species–birds, animals and plants–with flamingos spotted from the Gulf shore to the Atlantic in Florida.
But USA Today reports that since Idalia hit the Southeast, the pink birds have been spotted as far north as Virginia and as far inland as Ohio. One birder in Florida was able to photograph a leg tag seen on a bird, with the information identifying the bird came from a sanctuary in the Yucatan.
Entomology student George Keller was searching for monarch butterflies in Caesar Creek State Park in Waynesville, Ohio when he spotted park employees discussing a small flock of flamingos at one of the parks ponds. Tour guides at the Romaine National Wildlife Refuge near Charleston, South Carolina photographed two birds there last week.