From Audubon Florida
In Summary:
Rachelle Vance photographed a flock of six American Flamingos at Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge in July and discovered that one wore a metal leg band. Numbers visible in her photographs allowed researchers to identify the bird as Flamingo #00183, banded in 2016 at Mexico’s Ría Lagartos Biosphere Reserve. The discovery demonstrates how reports from photographers and bird watchers can help scientists track birds’ movements, longevity and habitat use.
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Rachelle Vance was determined to see another flamingo. Two months after Hurricane Idalia swept a pink wave of the gangly birds through Florida and beyond in August 2023, the photographer from Crystal River dropped her dogs at the sitter and packed her travel trailer. She crossed the state with her kayak, camera, and hope. She lucked out—she spotted the graceful waders that fall and has managed to get great views of them each year since. But both attempts in early 2026 were fruitless.
Related: Audubon report says Everglades restoration gaining ground but warns of growing threats.
Sighting the bird
In July of 2026, her persistence paid off. Vance saw not one American Flamingo but a flock of them in the shallow waters at Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge on two subsequent mornings. But upon her return home, after sifting through her 4,000-plus photos, she realized she had captured something special: One of the birds in the flock wore a metal band on one leg.
There were just enough numbers legible on the bird’s band to confirm this bird was banded in Yucatán, Mexico. Photo: Rachelle Vance
Vance quickly popped some photos, including a close-up of the band, into an email to Audubon Florida with her sighting report: On Sunday, July 12, there were six, but four flew off early. On Monday, she saw all six again, and they stayed together on or near the sandbar as they fed and groomed themselves.
“I was beyond thrilled to spend time with these flamingos! I felt honored and grateful,” says Vance. “I wish these flamingos the best and hope they stay healthy, and Florida does everything we can to make their time here safe. I have photos from every year!” she concludes.
Submitting the report
At Audubon staff’s suggestion, Vance submitted her sighting to the Bird Banding Laboratory, housed at the USGS Eastern Ecological Science Center. At the same time, Audubon’s Everglades Research Station staff began pondering the bird’s origin. Since 2015, Audubon's State Director of Science Jerry Lorenz, PhD, participated in banding two American Flamingos in Florida, using colored, alpha-numeric tags as well as metal bands. Scientists later reported one of those birds, dubbed Peaches, nesting in the Yucatán.
Audubon’s Wading Bird Specialist Shauna Sayers determined from the barely legible numbers in Vance’s close-up photo that scientists likely banded the bird, #00183, in Mexico! The science center team sent Vance’s photo to the Flamingo Working Group, and shortly thereafter, Jennifer McKay, the Bird Band Laboratory liaison for the Flamingo Working Group, responded.
“I have been getting many photos of this bird over the last few weeks. Unfortunately, none of the photos have had enough numbers visible to process until now,” says McKay, who also received photos from other photographers showing at least one additional banded flamingo in the same area.
What we learned about this bird
McKay reached out to her contact in the Yucatán with the band number, and within a week, Vance and the Flamingo Working Group learned more about Flamingo #00183. According to the FlamencoLab Laboratory of Ecology and Conservation of the Caribbean Flamingo, scientists banded the bird as a chick in August of 2016 at Ría Lagartos Biosphere Reserve, Yucatán, Mexico. In addition to a metal band, #00183 received a yellow, alpha-coded plastic band, which apparently fell off sometime before the first reported sighting of it in August 2024 at Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. Photographers and flamingo enthusiasts with spotting scopes have reported seeing #00183 multiple times since then.
Rachelle Vance often takes nature photographs by crawling on her belly to avoid disturbance. Photo: Pam Knowles
Flamingo basics
The American Flamingo (Phoenicopterus ruber), also called the Caribbean Flamingo, is a large flamingo species native to the West Indies, northern South America, and the Yucatán Peninsula. It is one of six species worldwide in the Phoenicopteridae family and one of four found in the Western Hemisphere.
American Flamingos are partially migratory and highly mobile, traveling widely in search of suitable habitat. Scientists think that the flamingos brought to Florida by Hurricane Idalia were in the process of migrating between the Yucatán and Cuba when they got blown off course. American Flamingos typically live 20 to 30 years in the wild but often live much longer in captivity.
Why reporting sightings matters
The scale of the challenges facing birds and the planet is daunting, and banded bird sighting reports are vitally important to the conservation and long-term survival of many of our most imperiled bird species. Amateur bird watchers and photographers play critical roles in this effort.
Anyone who can safely get numbers from a bird’s band, either through binoculars, a scope, or a photo, is encouraged to report it at www.reportband.gov. Reports greatly enhance our collective understanding of the species’ movements, longevity, and habitat use.
Key Points:
- Vance photographed six American Flamingos at Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge on July 12 and 13.
- After reviewing more than 4,000 photographs, she noticed that one flamingo wore a metal leg band.
- Researchers identified the bird as Flamingo #00183, banded as a chick in Mexico in August 2016.
- The flamingo was first reported at Merritt Island in August 2024 and has been seen several times since.
- Bird watchers and photographers can report banded birds at ReportBand.gov to support conservation research.
