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The legend of ‘Pink Floyd’, the flamingo of the Great Salt Lake

Pink flamingos are like most other warm weather birds, thriving in places like exotic South American jungles, African landscapes and Caribbean islands.

So you’d think if a pink flamingo got a lucky escape from the aviary, he’d high tail it to his natural habitat. But apparently not all birds of a feather flock together, because when “Pink Floyd” the flamingo broke free from Salt Lake City’s Tracy Aviary in 1990, he settled on making the Great Salt Lake his new home.

A Utahn at heart

Perhaps Pink Floyd enjoys life as a rare bird. He’s now famous among visitors of the salty, briny lake, and countless tourists have been quick to catch him on camera while out on the lake.

Unlike most birds at the zoo, Pink Floyd mistakenly never had his wings clipped. So he really could fly off anywhere he likes. But the Idaho/Montana border is just about as far as this guy ventures, when he takes occasional summer vacations to the nearby Lima Reservoir or Camas National Wildlife Refuge.

 

Survival in the West

Though the environment is far from the natural flamingo environment, a few key elements have helped Pink Floyd have a happy life in the Utah wild. This flamingo has found friends in the local gulls and Tundra swans that also inhabit the lake, and nourishment in the millions of brine shrimp that pervade the waters. (The carotenoids in the brine shrimp also keep his feathers distinctly pink.)

Floyd also has a fan club that rallies for his wellbeing. About 10 people decided to form the group “Friends of Floyd” after reading about his zoo escape in the local newspaper, and they’ve fought to make Floyd even more comfortable in his home away from home.

 

A flamingo family for Floyd

In 2004, one fan of Floyd set up dozens of plastic pink flamingos in the Great Salt Lake to keep Pink Floyd company. The Friends of Floyd has also lobbied for the governor to bring other flamingoes to the Great Salt Lake.

Despite the hefty price tag of $25,000 a pop, donors banned together with the hope of populating the lake with dozens of flamingos imported from South America. The plan, however, hasn’t ever taken off.

 

There’s plenty of time for a flamingo sighting

Some people say he’s missing, and may be presumed dead. If you believe he’s still around, though, and you find yourself scouting him out on the Great Salt Lake, he’ll probably be hard to miss.

But here are a few indicators to help you know you’ve got the right bird: Floyd stands at about three feet, eight inches tall. He has distinct red and black feather highlights on his wings, and most likely came to Utah from Chile, Bolivia or Peru.