SANIBEL, Fla. — If you’ve been on Facebook over the past few days, chances are you’ve seen pictures and videos going around claiming that flamingos had been sighted around Southwest Florida.

The day after Idalia blew through the Gulf of Mexico, flamingos started showing up, with a group of seven spotted Wednesday on the Sanibel Causeway.

What’s so special about this is that flamingos have a colorful relationship with the State of Florida, one that saw them mostly disappear from the State a century ago. But this could mean they’re clawing their way back.

On Thursday, the day after seven flamingos were spotted on the Sanibel Causeway, Sanibel resident and birdwatcher Paul Tritaik decided to check Bunche Beach for them.

“I heard there were seven flamingos that were hanging around, and one of the reports was here at Bunche Beach; I know I’m a little late, but what the heck, so I drove by to check it out,” Tritaik said.

He’s one of thousands of Floridian birdwatchers jumping at the chance to catch a glimpse of these rare and flamboyant birds, which are still considered native to Florida even though they are rarely seen.

“There is good evidence that American flamingos were or are native to the State of Florida, it’s sort of ironic that flamingos are sort of this cultural icon of Florida, but their status in the state has been sort of unsettled for about a century,” said Andrew Durso, from Florida Gulf Coast University.

So why are flamingos so rare here? Their iconic bright-colored feathers are actually the reason. ​

“So they did breed here historically, they were much more common in Florida, like many of our wading birds, but in the early 1900s, it was all the rage for fashionable women to wear hats decorated with feathers, so as a result, people hunting wading birds here nearly to extinction,” said Julie Wraithmell, the president of Audubon Florida.

That’s why these ones showing up are such a big deal. Experts think they might have road tailwinds from Idalia from the Yucatan or Cuba. Those same experts hope they stick around.

“They are definitely coming back; we have been seeing them increasingly in Florida Bay, as well as the greater Everglades over the last few years; in fact, most winters, there is a decent-sized flock that knocks around the water conservation areas of the everglades,” Wraithmell explained.

With the recent sightings of them throughout the state, experts now wonder if or when they’ll breed here again, like they did a century ago.

“I think it’s absolutely possible; all you need to do is look at things like reddish egrets, and roseate spoonbills that were hunting almost to extinction, as much as the flamingo was, and we’ve seen them expand to Tampa Bay and beyond if we were able to accomplish that over the last century, I’d say there is hope for flamingos too,” Wraithmell said.