Hello everyone, and happy Monday! I’m super excited to share today’s story with all of you. The flamingos are still hanging around St. John! Where are my fellow bird nerds??!!
For those of you who are new to reading Explore STJ (welcome!), we hadn’t seen flamingos on St. John in years. One would show up here or there, but would quickly disappear, and we would, once again, become a flamingo-less island. Well, that was until February 2023 when a flamboyance of flamingos was spotted near Salt Pond, sending the island into a bird frenzy! (A lone flamingo was spotted a few months prior to that.)
So it turns out that flamingos were native to the Virgin Islands, but all were eaten or lost to development until the reintroduction on Anegada in 1992 and then another flock later on Necker Island. Anegada and Necker Island (a private island owned by Sir Richard Branson) are located over in the British Virgin Islands. According to Gail Karlsson – a St. John resident who is an environmental lawyer, author, photographer and bird watcher – there is currently a “smallish” flock on Beef Island (near the airport on Tortola), the Necker Island flock and about 300 on Anegada, according to the last bird count.
A lot of time has been since this first sighting, so I wasn’t sure if they were still hanging out. I was on an island tour last week and had guests out near Concordia when we spotted two in the salt pond behind Salt Pond Bay. I was ecstatic!
So the point of today’s story is, yes, the flamingos are still here! If you would like to see the island and possibly spot one of these beautiful, please consider taking an island tour with me! You can learn more about Explore STJ’s island tours at www.explorestj.com/tour.
Have a fantastic day everyone, and happy birdwatching!
Want to learn more about St. John? Take an island tour with me!
Learn more here –> www.explorestj.com/tour
See the island of St. John with a resident. See the nooks and crannies that many visitors miss. Explore the beaches, historical sites, perhaps a tiki bar or two, and much more. Full & half days available. Rated “Excellent” on TripAdvisor.