{"id":261633,"date":"2026-05-07T05:32:14","date_gmt":"2026-05-07T05:32:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/261633\/"},"modified":"2026-05-07T05:32:14","modified_gmt":"2026-05-07T05:32:14","slug":"ron-magills-retirement-plans-fight-for-the-flamingo-in-fl","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/261633\/","title":{"rendered":"Ron Magill\u2019s retirement plans: fight for the flamingo in FL"},"content":{"rendered":"

After nearly a half-century promoting animals as Zoo Miami\u2019s spokesperson, Ron Magill says he\u2019s raring for a fight on behalf of a bird that helped make him famous: the Florida flamingo.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe flamingo needs to be the state bird of Florida,\u201d he told the Miami Herald on Tuesday after accepting a \u201cRon Magill Day\u201d proclamation from the Miami-Dade Commission in honor of his retirement<\/a> as the county-owned zoo\u2019s communications director. \u201cThis is an absolute must.\u201d<\/p>\n

Magill, 66, has been working at Zoo Miami since it was located on Key Biscayne, joining the county payroll in 1979. For decades, he has enjoyed fame from his frequent television appearances promoting the zoo, almost always with at least one animal sidekick in tow.<\/p>\n

\"Ron Ron Magill, photographed here in 2021 with a Zoo Miami giraffe named Malcome, is retiring as the Miami-Dade zoo\u2019s spokesperson and says he\u2019s looking forward to being free to advocate in Tallahassee for making the flamingo Florida\u2019s state bird. Al Diaz adiaz@miamiherald.com <\/p>\n

But it was the American flamingo that brought Magill one of the most iconic moments of his career.<\/p>\n

He took some publicity photos of the zoo\u2019s preparations for the approach of Hurricane Andrew in August of 1992. One still image captured about two dozen flamingos huddled inside a zoo bathroom, the stall doors closed and the floor covered in straw. The birds survived, newspapers across the world published the photo and Magill was on his way to becoming county government\u2019s most well-known employee.<\/p>\n

\u201cHad we not put them in that bathroom, they all probably would have died,\u201d Magill said. \u201cEvery Aug. 24 for the last 30-plus years, it goes all over the internet as the iconic symbol of Hurricane Andrew.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Flamingos Flamingos huddling in the bathroom of Miami Metrozoo (later renamed Zoo Miami), ahead of the approach of Hurricane Andrew in August 1992. It became the most famous photo taken by the zoo\u2019s communications director, Ron Magill. Ron Magill <\/p>\n

Magill\u2019s retirement begins after work on Friday, the final day of a 46-year county career. He was notoriously outspoken while on the Miami-Dade payroll, opposing the County Commission\u2019s support for the Calusa housing development near his Kendall home and fighting his own employer to defeat the planned Miami Wilds water park,<\/a> which would have generated significant income for Zoo Miami.<\/p>\n

But Magill said county limits on employee lobbying of state lawmakers stymied him from joining the fight to end the mockingbird\u2019s status as Florida\u2019s state bird and to upgrade the flamingo to that honorary title. \u201cI was forbidden from going to speak in Tallahassee to make the flamingo the state bird of Florida,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The flamingo fight could probably use Magill\u2019s help. Last year the Florida House overwhelmingly passed legislation to end the Northern mockingbird\u2019s 99-year run as the state bird and replace it with the American flamingo.<\/p>\n

A main argument centered on the ho-humness of the mockingbird \u2014 currently the official bird of four other Southern states<\/a> \u2014 and the flamingo\u2019s long tradition as Florida\u2019s unofficial mascot, popping up on beachwear, airport souvenirs and as the default logo when marketing something that needs to squawk \u201cSunshine State.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019ll never see a mockingbird at an airport,\u201d House co-sponsor Rep. Jim Mooney, a Republican from the Florida Keys, told a Florida legislative committee late last year<\/a>. \u201cYou\u2019ll never see a mockingbird on a lottery ticket.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Zoo Zoo Miami Communications Director Ron Magill (center) captures two of the zoo’s flamingos at their old exhibit so they can be relocated to a secluded area in the zoo\u2019s conservation and breeding center on April 17, 2014. PATRICK FARRELL MIAMI HERALD STAFF <\/p>\n

While the bill got only one no vote in the House, it died in the Senate. There was some grumbling about a potential slight of pelicans and whether flamingos should be considered native to Florida.<\/p>\n

Then there was the mockingbird lobby. One of Tallahassee\u2019s most powerful voices \u2014 Marion Hammer<\/a>, the 87-year-old retired lobbyist for the National Rifle Association \u2014 has long been a champion for the mockingbird and its distinctive songs.<\/p>\n

Rep. Chip LaMarca, a Lighthouse Point Republican who co-sponsored Mooney\u2019s bill, is leaving his House seat this year due to term limits. But he knows Magill from his frequent appearances on Paul Castronovo\u2019s radio show<\/a> and said he\u2019s eager to head back to Tallahassee next year with Magill to resume the flamingo fight again. \u201cI think we can get it done,\u201d LaMarca said. \u201cI\u2019d love to work with him on this.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Magill is retiring from his county job, he\u2019s not going far. The Zoo Miami Foundation \u2014 which raises money for the zoo \u2014 is taking him on as goodwill ambassador, where he\u2019ll continue making public appearances to promote conservation and a love of animals. The foundation, an independent charity, is already on record supporting making the flamingo Florida\u2019s official bird<\/a>.<\/p>\n

While Tallahassee will see him speaking up for flamingos, Magill said he\u2019s also planning trips to Washington to fight for better conservation and environmental protections.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m going to be able to speak my mind a lot more,\u201d he said. \u201cWhich is going to be quite liberating, to be honest with you.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After nearly a half-century promoting animals as Zoo Miami\u2019s spokesperson, Ron Magill says he\u2019s raring for a fight…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":261634,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[28,30,29],"class_list":["post-261633","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-florida","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/261633","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=261633"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/261633\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/261634"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=261633"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=261633"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=261633"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}