Limpkin

Description:

The Limpkin is a rather large bird, about 23-28 inches in length with a wingspan of about 42 inches. It has long legs and a long neck with brown and gray feathers with white streaks. It's bill is long and slightly curved with a black tip.

Habitat:

Most common in Marshes and woody swamps. Found as far north as Southern Georgia, but the breeding range usually does not go further north than Florida. Also common in Mexico, Central America Tropics and South America.

Notes:

Much of the diet of the Limpkin is made up of apple snails. Their slightly curved beak is perfect to extract the snail from the shell . I watched the Limpkin in this image shake, bang the shell against the ground and finally extract the snail. The loud wild cry of the Limpkin, which is most often hear at night, dusk or dawn, has been used as a sound effect in Tarzan films and Harry Potter, according to Wikipedia.