Limpkin

Description:

Large, unique marsh bird, dark brown body, white streaks on neck, back, wings, breast. Bill is slightly decurved. Neck and legs are long. Vaguely resembles an ibis. Feeds on freshwater snails, mussels, frogs, crustaceans and insects. Direct flight with quick upstrokes and slow downstrokes. Field Marks A large spotted swamp wader, a bit larger than an ibis. Its long legs and drooping bill give it an ibislike aspect, but no ibis is brown with white spots and streaks. Flight cranelike (smart upward flaps).

Habitat:

I was up early, and was lucky enough to spot this fellow out the boat window as it hunted along the shoreline.

Notes:

An unusual bird of southern swamps and marshes, the Limpkin reaches the northern limits of its breeding range in Florida. There, it feeds almost exclusively on apple snails, which it extracts from their shells with its long bill. Its screaming cry is unmistakable and evocative. Looking like something between a crane and a rail, this odd wading bird has no close relatives. It is widespread in the American tropics, but enters our area only in Florida, where it can satisfy its dietary requirement for a certain freshwater snail. Mostly solitary, Limpkins may be overlooked as they stalk about in marshes and swamps; they draw attention with their piercing banshee wails, often heard at dawn or at night.