Limpkin

Description:

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.

Habitat:

The limpkin occurs from peninsular Florida (and formerly the Okefenokee Swamp in southern Georgia)[16] 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.[10][13] It inhabits freshwater marshes and swamps, often with tall reeds, as well as mangroves.[10][13] In the Caribbean, it also inhabits dry brushland.[13] In Mexico and northern Central America, it occurs at altitudes up to 1,500 m (4,900 ft).[10] In Florida the distribution of apple snails is the best predictor of where limpkins can be found.[4] The limpkin undertakes some localised migrations, although the extent of these are not fully understood. In some parts in the northern part of the range females (and a few males) will leave the breeding areas at the end of summer, returning at the end of winter. Birds may also migrate between Florida and Cuba. In Brazil, birds breeding in some seasonal marshes will leave during the dry season and return again with the rains.