What does this mean for the future of flamingos in Florida? What does it mean for the population as a whole? 

The American Flamingo (Phoenicopterus ruber) is one of six species of flamingo spread out around the globe. With some living year-round in Florida in small numbers, American Flamingos breed in huge colonies in the Caribbean, Mexico, Colombia, and Venezuela. While we celebrate increasing numbers of flamingos in Florida, biologists are sharing concerns about the global population, currently estimated at more than 200,000 birds but facing both a changing climate and increasing disturbance.

“There is a healthy population, for now,” explains Audubon Florida’s State Research Director Jerry Lorenz, PhD. “But that doesn’t make it immune to difficult nesting conditions. We are working more closely with international partners to monitor these breeding colonies should they begin to decline.” 

What has the scientists so spooked? 

“Unfortunately, while numbers have remained steady, the actual number of functioning colonies has decreased,” says Frank Ridgley, DVM, of Zoo Miami. 

Flamingos nest and raise their chicks together in giant colonies to better fend off predators. In recent years, however, some colonies have been damaged by hurricanes, others swamped by storm surge, and still others face increasing levels of human disturbance.

“The fewer nesting sites, the more vulnerable the population is to disease or a mega storm that impacts all of them,” adds Dr. Lorenz.

What is Audubon doing? 

We follow birds to our work—and they aren’t constrained by the arbitrary boundaries of cities, states, and countries. As a result, a critical element of Audubon’s efforts in habitat conservation involves strengthening the ties between the places birds need across the hemisphere. The team at Audubon’s Everglades Science Center continues to work with organizations and international partners within the Florida Flamingo Working Group (like Zoo Miami) as part of a larger effort by the Caribbean Flamingo Conservation Group to monitor and protect the American Flamingo. As nesting sites dwindle in other regions, protecting and restoring habitat here in Florida for a potential return of breeding flamingos could increase the resilience of the population as a whole. 

“This is a pivot point,” continues Dr. Lorenz, “We have the opportunity to take conservation actions before a population decline, instead of working to bring back a species from the brink.”

This article originally appeared in the 2024 Winter Naturalist.