A few dozen migrant flamingos have been landing around the Tri-Cities and ETSU’s campus in the past two weeks – that was until students began holding the flamingos captive.
The flock resided in a charming grassy area close to a reliable food source. They were part of a promotion for Allegiant Airlines, Tri-Cities Airport and Pal’s Sudden Service Restaurant.
The birds’ job was to promote the direct flight to Ft. Lauderdale. The flamingos were part of a contest sponsored by the three companies. The plan was to rotate the 100 bright pink plastic yard ornaments among the different Tri-Cities’ Pal’s locations.
The Pal’s on State of Franklin in Johnson City was one of the first locations to receive a flock. The birds had been nesting less than eight hours when the first ones went missing.
Mike Smith, owner of the Johnson City Pal’s Sudden Service, said, “About six were missing from the 100 the first night they were out. By the third day, I only had 12 left.” Some Pal’s customers even took part in removing the flamingos. “I had one customer come buy lunch, and then as they were leaving, pulled to the curb, grabbed five or six birds and left,” Smith said.
Some people even tried to liberate the birds. One Pal’s customer wrote down the license plate number of one of the “bird-nappers” and turned it into the shift manager.
The store decided not to press charges. Some birds were turned in anonymously to the Public Safety office on the ETSU campus. Safety Officer Brandon Powell said he just came into the office one morning and they were sitting there, so he returned them to Pal’s.
The airline, which had ordered the flamingos, expected some losses, but not a complete disappearance of the flock. All the Pal’s locations experienced some missing birds, but none to the extent of the State of Franklin location. The airport was eventually forced to order more birds to last until the contest was over.
Some people mistook the display as a fund-raiser.
In the past, organizations like churches would raise money by “flocking” someone’s house.
Someone could pay the organization to put several flamingos in someone’s yard as a joke. The organization would then offer to remove the flamingos and flock someone else with them for a small charge.
Smith understands the attraction to the birds. “They are bright-colored, cute and unusual. That is why people were so attracted to them,” he said.
As the promotion ended last week, Smith gathered the only two remaining birds from his flock.
Allegiant Airlines is responsible for retrieving the remaining plastic pair.

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