Flamingo spotted again "enjoying Cape Cod"

DENNIS - For the second time this year, a flamingo has been spotted in Massachusetts.

A member of the Facebook group "Cape Cod Birders" took a picture of the American flamingo on Chapin Beach in Dennis this week. Back at the beginning of June, a fisherman captured what was believed to be the first pictures of a wild flamingo in the state.

"It's actually very unusual," Pete Costello, assistant curator at Stone Zoo, told WBZ-TV. "It's the only time I've heard of a flamingo in this area."

It hasn't been confirmed if the latest sighting is of the same flamingo or a different bird. But before this year, the Massachusetts Audubon Society said there had only been three flamingo sightings in the state and they were all likely escapees and not wild.

How did a flamingo get on Cape Cod?

Costello explained that last summer, Hurricane Idalia displaced flamingos from the Yucatan Peninsula, sending some of them north into the United States.

"I think some large numbers of birds probably got a little mixed up," Costello said. "If you look at a map, a couple of quick flights if you're a flamingo to get from Georgia to Boston isn't that far."

Can flamingos live in Massachusetts?

The bird should have no problem surviving on the Cape for the time being as it feeds on algae and the tiny shrimp that give it its pink color, Costello said.

"It's a time of year where the bird will have plenty to eat through the summer," he said. "It's probably just enjoying Cape Cod like the rest of us."

The Stone Zoo houses 48 flamingos year-round thanks to a heated pool and special diet. But the wild flamingo will not do as well in New England once the weather gets colder, Costello said.

"Hopefully wisdom will kick in and the bird will head south," he said. "They really can't walk around in the snow that well."