Family Phoenicopteridae

Greater Flamingo

Status One record. On or about 13 October 1969, one of these exotic birds was seen near the roadside at Cape John, Pictou County, by a number of local residents. On the afternoon of the fifteenth Alvin Holmes found it dead on the beach nearby. It had been shot that day. The specimen was acquired by the Nova Scotia Museum.

Remarks The flamingo may have been a victim of a hurricane which came from the region of the Bahamas (where a breeding colony of flamingos has long been established) early in October and reached Cape Race, Newfoundland, about October 17. That this was a wild bird rather than an escapee is suggested by its rich pink plumage (captive birds are duller). Its occurrence here represents the first record of the species for Canada, and possibly the first further north than New Jersey.