Limpkin (Aramus guarauna) - a photo on Flickriver

            Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary
Southwest Florida
USA

The limpkin (Aramus guarauna), also called carrao, courlan, and crying bird, is a bird that looks like a large rail, but is skeletally closer to cranes. It is the only extant species in the genus Aramus and the family Aramidae. It is found mostly in wetlands in warm parts of the Americas, from Florida to northern Argentina. It feeds on molluscs, with the diet dominated by apple snails of the genus Pomacea. Its name derives from its seeming limp when it walks.

The limpkin occurs from peninsular Florida (and formerly the Okefenokee Swamp in southern Georgia) and southern Mexico through the Caribbean and Central America to northern Argentina. In South America, it occurs widely east of the Andes; west of them its range extends only to the Equator. 

It inhabits freshwater marshes and swamps, often with tall reeds, as well as mangroves. In the Caribbean, it also inhabits dry brushland. In Mexico and northern Central America, it occurs at altitudes up to 1,500 m (4,900 ft). In Florida, the distribution of apple snails is the best predictor of where limpkins can be found. 

The limpkin undertakes some localized migrations. In some parts in the northern part of the range, females (and a few males) leave the breeding areas at the end of summer, returning at the end of winter. In Brazil, birds breeding in some seasonal marshes leave during the dry season and return with the rains. Birds may also migrate between Florida and Cuba, as several limpkins on the Florida Keys and Dry Tortugas have been reported. - Wikipedia.

Taken in: United States / Florida / Orangetree (show map)

Taken on: March 26, 2017

Tags:

Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary 2017

Southeastern Florida

Limpkin

Aramus guarauna

Crying Bird

Closer to Cranes Skeletally

Only Extant Species

Aramus Genus

Aramidae Family

Warm Parts of Americas

Florida to northern Argentina

Feeds on Molluscs

Apple Snails

Swamps

Tall Reeds

Mangroves

Dry Brushland

Wader

Sue Roehl

Lumix DMC-GH4

Sunrays+5

coth5 « less

Sets appears in: • Audubon's Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary

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