American Flamingo, band "HDNT"
Greater Flamingo, band "492"
All photos © Bill Duke
Bill Duke and his wife photographed this American/Greater Flamingo pair at around 6:00 pm on April 12 at Bolivar Flats Shorebird Sanctuary. Based on their bands, the birds have been identified as the same pair that was seen in September-October, 2007 in Louisiana. Mark Bartosik supplied the following information: "The rosy red bird with band "HDNT" was banded as a juvenile at the Ria Lagartos Reserve in the summer of 2005 and was probably carried by Hurricane Rita's winds to Texas, where it spent a year and a half near Aransas National Wildlife Refuge. The bird with band number 492 escaped from the Sedgwick County Zoo in Wichita on June 27, 2005."