A few hundred years ago they were all over Florida, but now it’s not common to spot a wild American flamingo in our area.But conservation efforts are stoking a rebound for the iconic pink bird, and now more are being seen in Brevard County.“They are magnificent to watch. If you ever see a true, wild flamingo, they are magnificent,” said local wildlife photographer Erin Rotne after a recent visit to Haulover Canal on the Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge.“Luckily with my telephoto lens, I was able to see them and get some very good shots of them kind of sleeping, walking. They weren’t really feeding,” Rotne said.The majestic birds are protected.“This resurgence of flamingos that we are seeing is actually a part of a longer trend since (the) 1950s of American flamingos returning in larger and larger numbers back to their historic areas in Florida,” said Frank Ridgley, the conservation and research head at Miami Zoo.The flamingo resurgence started down in the Caribbean and has been moving its way up north, but there’s something last summer that might explain the recent increase in sightings.“Hurricane Idalia blew in a lot of flamingos, we don’t know if they were actually in midflight or if they got blown in going in between areas,” Ridgely said.Wildlife refuges across the state are familiar habitats for the flamingos and will be the spots where they can most likely be seen.“People will hop on a plane from other parts of the country just to see a flamingo. It happens now. We think it’s just a huge benefit to the state of Florida. Plus, it’s a part of our natural heritage,” Ridgley said.And a step further, there are bills in both the state House and Senate to make the flamingo the official state bird of Florida.Top headlines: Rare earthquake rattles off Florida coast Central Florida woman shares nightmare human trafficking story in hopes of empowering victims Winter Park woman accused of leaving boyfriend in suitcase to die gets new lawyer