Stay up to date with notifications from The IndependentNotifications can be managed in browser preferences.Jump to contentThank you for registeringPlease refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged inAllNewsSportCultureLifestyleTens of thousands of flamingos, known as 'fenicotteri', are now wintering in the Venetian Lagoon, appearing in unprecedented numbers. Venice's lagoon recorded a peak of nearly 24,000 wintering flamingos in 2025.Environmentalists view the flamingos' presence as a positive indicator of the lagoon's health and its suitability as a feeding ground. A project to reconstruct salt marshes in the more isolated southern lagoon has raised prospects that flamingo numbers will further increase, while also drawing the birds away from competing human uses in the north.Flamingos, typically associated with nesting sites in Spain and France, first began to appear in the vast Venetian Lagoon in the early 2000s. In fullFlamingos flock to Venice in record numbers as wetlands are restoredThank you for registeringPlease refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in

Flamingos are flocking to the Venetian Lagoon in record numbers as ecological efforts restore damaged wetlands.

Flamingos are flocking to the Venetian Lagoon in record numbers as ecological efforts restore damaged wetlands

The pale pink birds — called “fenicotteri” in Italian — are now flocking to Venice in record numbers, as ecological efforts to restore damaged wetlands could help expand their…

Perhaps nothing better illustrates the flamingo’s status as a newcomer than the fact that the local dialect has no word for them.

Tens of thousands of the pale pink birds now winter in the Venetian Lagoon

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24,000 pink flamingos were spotted in the famous lagoon in 2025 - 6,000 more than in 2024.