Every Creature Club

Pam Luongo bought six plastic flamingos in 2019 and placed them in her garden in Beaufort, South Carolina, then forgot about them. By September, real flamingos began to appear—up to 17—without any explanation from authorities. A biologist from Clemson University installed cameras and observed the birds blending in with the fake ones, behaving as if they were a family, sleeping together at dusk. Pam began feeding them brine shrimp, and by 2021 the colony had grown to 43, with her property being recognized as a protected habitat.