Going rogue since 2005, a flamingo named Pink Floyd has been spotted in Texas of all places. Wading in the shallow waters of Cox Bay near Port Lavaca, NPR reported that a man named David Foreman took a video that was posted by the Coastal Fisheries – Texas Parks and Wildlife Facebook page. “Looks like Pink Floyd has returned from the dark side of the moon!,” the agency commented.
You see, flamingos can’t be found anywhere in the wild in the US besides South Florida, but this particular flamingo has an incredible story: Pink Floyd — also known as “No. 492” — came to Wichita’s Sedgwick County Zoo in 2003 as part of a 40 flamingo flock. The flamingos are kept from flying away by routinely having their wings clipped — basically like a haircut. But in a momentary lapse of reason, when Pink Floyd and another bird, named No. 347, had missed their scheduled final cut appointments, they escaped the zoo and flew out into the wild (no word on whether they were charged for cancelling with less than 24 hours advance notice.)
Pink Floyd was actually first brought into public consciousness when they were spotted in Texas for the first time in 2018, according to The New York Times. “I’m no expert, but I’m pretty sure flamingos aren’t native to Texas,” an intern for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department said back then. But just like in 2018, Pink Floyd was sporting an uncanny tag above their knees, making it an easy to spot this past month on March 10th. Pink Floyd is said to be 27 years old and Pink’s preferred pronouns are they/them, as there is no way to tell what sex they are.
Flamingos are said to be able to live for 30 years in the wild, so it looks as though Pink Floyd will be touring for at least another few years. As for No. 347, they were spotted flying North in 2005, was never seen again, but Pink wishes they were here.