"...Flamingos from breeding populations in the Caribbean have been blown into the U.S. with hurricanes before, said Jennifer McKay, a wildlife biologist in the Bird Banding Lab at the U.S. Geological Survey's Eastern Ecological Science Center.

This time there are more birds in more locations, experts told USA TODAY.

Through correspondence with the Pedro and Elena Hernández Foundation, Lorenz and others learned that most, if not all, of the flamingos likely came from the Ría Lagartos Biosphere Reserve on the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico. The Foundation is one of two environmental nonprofits placing identification bands on birds in the reserve, where many migratory flamingos gather for the summer breeding season.

The reserve is less than 500 miles from South Florida, said McKay, the lab's liaison with bird banding partners around the world. 'If they got a lot of oomph from a tailwind, it's an easy hop, skip and a jump.'

Three birds banded in the reserve have been reported in the U.S. over the past decade, McKay said. Since Idalia, six birds banded there have been reported, she said, five in Florida and one in North Carolina...."