Limpkin
Limpkin
Aramus guarauna
Also known as: courlan · crying bird · Scolopaceous Courlan
Aves
COMMON

Stats

Lifespan
10-12 yrs
Size
Medium
Diet
Carnivore
Activity
Cathemeral
Social
Pair
Biome
Freshwater wetland
Range
Americas
Movement
Walking
Breeding
Egg-laying
Defense
Camouflage
Status
Common

About

A large brown wading bird of Florida marshes and wetlands, streaked with white and prized among birders for its wild, piercing wail heard mostly at dusk and through the night. It feeds almost exclusively on apple snails, using its slightly downcurved, gap-tipped bill to pry the shells open without breaking them.

Life cycle

  1. 1.
    egg
    A clutch of eggs is incubated in the nest, kept warm by a brooding parent until the chicks pip free.
  2. 2.
    hatchling
    A naked or downy hatchling is fed in the nest by its parents.
  3. 3.
    juvenile
    A feathered juvenile fledges from the nest and learns to fly and forage.
  4. 4.
    adult
    Fully grown with adult plumage.

Learn more

Taxonomy

Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Chordata
Class
Aves
Order
Gruiformes
Family
Aramidae
Genus
Aramus
Species
Aramus guarauna