Flamingos in Wisconsin? Tropical birds visit Lake Michigan beach in a first for the northern state

PORT WASHINGTON, Wis. — Five flamingos that confirmed up in Wisconsin to wade alongside a Lake Michigan beach attracted a large crowd of onlookers keen to look the abnormal guests venturing a long way from their same old tropical atmosphere.

The American flamingos noticed Friday in Port Washington, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) north of Milwaukee, marked the first sighting of the species in Wisconsin state historical past, mentioned Mark Korducki, a member of the Wisconsin Society for Ornithology, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.

The birds stood quietly 25 ft (7.6 meters) off Lake Michigan’s western coastline as waves lapped towards their skinny legs. Three have been adults, identifiable by way of their purple plumage, and two have been juveniles clad in grey.

Jim Edelhuber of Waukesha used to be amongst a crowd of about 75 chook lovers attracted to the town’s South Beach after phrase unfold on social media about the flamingos’ look there.

“This is huge. This is unbelievable,” said Edelhuber, an avid bird watcher and photographer.

The sighting was unexpected but not a total shock because of recent reports of flamingos in Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio and Pennsylvania, said Ryan Brady, conservation biologist with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.

Wildlife biologists hypothesized that the flamingos were pushed north in late August by the strong winds of Hurricane Idalia, the Journal Sentinel reported.

The typical range of the American flamingo is Florida and other Gulf Coast states as well as the Caribbean and northern South America.

Debbie Gasper of Port Washington made the short trip to the lakefront with her husband, Mark. She said that before Friday the only flamingos she has seen have been on the couple’s trips to Aruba.

Gasper said she was going to send photos of the birds to relatives in Georgia who “aren’t going to believe it.”