Flamingo rescued in Pinellas County after Hurricane Idalia could provide scientists with important data

The history of flamingos in Florida

Lloyd Sowers reports

PINELLAS,Fla. - Miami Vice gave us a taste of flamingos, but now the real detective work starts with Peaches, the flamingo blown in by Hurricane Idalia, rescued in Pinellas County and fitted with a satellite tracking device.

"So that scientists can follow and figure out, is it still alive? What habitats is it using? "Is it returning?" said Prof. Beth Forys, a Conservation Biologist at Eckerd College in St. Petersburg.

She has studied shorebirds and seabirds for 25 years.

Scientists believe Peaches was blown off course while flying between Mexico and Cuba.

Florida's wild flamingos, mainly in the Everglades, were wiped out in the early 1900s, primarily by plume hunters, who killed the birds to fuel the fashion fad of ladies' hats with large, colorful feathers.

But, finally, people became more for the birds and less for the hats.

"People said wow, we really should take this seriously and it became less fashionable to wear a big hat with a feather in it," says Forys.

So Peaches and a few others blown in have far fewer plume hunters to worry about but more people looking to capture a flamingo in the wild with their cameras.

"Experts say if you see a flamingo, don't run at it with your phone to get a picture. Just stay back and take in a rare sight.

A couple of wayward wild flamingos have taken up residence in Florida, one in the Keys and one in the Panhandle.

With satellite tracking, we'll see where Peaches goes or maybe stays.

"It is possible that flamingos could return, particularly to South Florida," says Forys. "I don't know about the Tampa Bay area, but I think it is possible."

Without hats to worry about, it could be a new feather in our caps to welcome back flamingos to the wild in Florida, with Peaches possibly leading the way.

Pinellas County