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Limpkin

Aramus guarauna

Least Concern · IUCN Red List

LCLeast ConcernInvertebratesWetlandPlatform nestLarge · 1.1 kg
Limpkin (Aramus guarauna), photo 1
Photo: David Garza · CC BY 4.0
Limpkin (Aramus guarauna), photo 2
Photo: David Garza · CC BY 4.0
Limpkin (Aramus guarauna), photo 3
Photo: leppyone · CC BY 2.0
Limpkin (Aramus guarauna), photo 4
Photo: gailhampshire from Cradley, Malvern, U.K · CC BY 2.0
Limpkin (Aramus guarauna), photo 5
Photo: Andrew C · CC BY 2.0
Limpkin (Aramus guarauna), photo 6
Photo: Ron Knight from Seaford, East Sussex, United Kingdom · CC BY 2.0
Limpkin (Aramus guarauna), photo 7
Photo: David Garza · CC BY 4.0
Limpkin (Aramus guarauna), photo 8
Photo: David Garza · CC BY 4.0
Limpkin (Aramus guarauna), photo 9
Photo: David Garza · CC BY 4.0
Limpkin (Aramus guarauna), photo 10
Photo: David Garza · CC BY 4.0

What the Limpkin sounds like

Sonogram of the Limpkin: time runs left to right, pitch bottom to top, and the brighter the mark the louder the sound.
Recorded by Graznidos y gorjeos · Uncertain · Lagos De Regatas De Palermo (near Buenos Aires), Comuna 14, Buenos Aires, Argentina · CC0 · via xeno-canto
Sonogram of the Limpkin: time runs left to right, pitch bottom to top, and the brighter the mark the louder the sound.
Recorded by Niels Krabbe · Call, calls · Manabí: La Segua marsh (Chone lakes), Ecuador · CC BY-SA 4.0 · via xeno-canto

ID tip

The limpkin is a somewhat large bird, 64–73 cm (25–29 in) long, with a wingspan of 101–107 cm (40–42 in). Body mass ranges from 900 to 1,300 g (2.0 to 2.9 lb), averaging 1,080 g (2.38 lb). The males are slightly larger than the females in size, but no difference in plumage is seen. Its plumage is drab—dark brown with an olive luster above. The feathers of the head, neck, wing coverts, and much of the back and underparts (except the rear) are marked with white, making the body look streaked and the head and neck light gray. It has long, dark-gray legs and a long neck.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

When to see the Limpkin

One bar for each month, and every month is filled: this bird is recorded here in all twelve. The wide bar is January, the month with the most records.

Where to see the Limpkin

Regular rangeRare visitor

The map shades 30 countries with regular records, and 4 more in a lighter tone where the bird turns up only as a stray. Everything unshaded has no records. Countries are listed below the map.

United States Argentina Brazil Mexico Colombia Belize Costa Rica Ecuador Paraguay Peru Cuba Uruguay Guatemala Panama Honduras Bolivia Guyana Dominican Republic Venezuela Nicaragua Trinidad & Tobago Puerto Rico Bahamas El Salvador Jamaica Suriname Haiti French Guiana Curaçao Cayman Islands

Recorded as a rare visitor in Canada, Chile, Aruba, Guadeloupe.

About the Limpkin

The limpkin, also called carrao, courlan, and crying bird, is a large wading bird related to rails and cranes, and the only extant species in the family Aramidae. It is found mostly in wetlands in warm parts of the Americas, from Florida to northern Argentina, but has been spotted as far north as Wisconsin and Southern Ontario. 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.

Text adapted from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

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