Greater Flamingo
The photos taken of the Pair of Greater Flamingos were at Bolivar Flats Shorebird Sanctuary. Notice the bands on them. The brighter reddish bird has an ID of HDNT and the lighter bird has an ID of 492. A GOOGLE search will yeild more details for those who are interested. Compare these to the one I photographed in Rockport Texas in January 2006 on a shell island in the bay which also has a similar HDNT band.

Range: Birds seen in Florida are of the nominate race, which breeds as close to Florida as southern Bahamas and Cuba. Note the pink legs, black flight feathers,tricolored bill. This sighting is consider rare for the Upper Texas Gulf Coast.

5/15/2011 Update:
Our old friend the much-traveled HNDT is on the move again. This is the
American Flamingo banded (band code HNDT) as a fledgling at the colony at
Ria Lagartos on the north coast of Yucatan in 2005. HNDT has been hanging
out recently near Cameron in SW Louisiana. Apparently the area where it has
been seen for the last couple of weeks was disturbed by some clearing work
and he has disappeared from that location, at least for the moment.
Obviously he slipped through the spring birders all along the Texas coast.
undetected. He could pop up anywhere along the Gulf coast. He has been in
hiding since 2009 so it has been a while since he has hit the road again.
His former companion, the Greater Flamingo that is a fugitive from a zoo in
Kansas has not been seen this trip. Keep your eyes peeled for pink.

John C. Arvin
Research Associate
Gulf Coast Bird Observatory
103 West Hwy 332
Lake Jackson, TX 77566
jarvin@gcbo.org
www.gcbo.org