The limpkin, aka carrao, courlan, and/or crying bird, is a sizable wading bird related to cranes and rails. They’re the only extant species in the family Aramidae. While found mostly in wetlands in the warmer parts of the Americas, from Florida, to Mexico, to Central America, down to South America, they have been spotted as far north as Wisconsin, in the U.S. and Southern Ontario, Canada. They face the threats of habitat loss and destruction at the hands of wetland conversion for agriculture, residential and commercial developments; a decrease in apple snails, due to pollution, as well as destruction of the snail’s habitat; invasive vegetation, that makes it more difficult to access food; land pollution; water pollution; and climate change, that causes a rise in sea water levels that encroach upon the freshwater wetlands. However, these birds are abundant enough to be listed as Least Concern by the IUCN. Their population trend is listed as stable.
First the Stats…
Scientific name: Aramus guarauna
Weight: Up to 2.9 lbs.
Length: Up to 29 inches
Wingspan: Up to 42 inches
Lifespan: Up to 20 years
Now on to the Facts!
1.) They get their primary common name from the way the walk with a sort of limp.
2.) These birds were formally described scientifically by Carl Linnaeus in 1766.
3.) Between 1856 – 1934, these birds were treated as 2 species, 1 in South America and the other located in Central America, the Caribbean, and Florida.
4.) There are 4 recognized subspecies with the difference between them relating to slight variances in size and plumage: Aramus guarauna dolosus, Aramus guarauna elucus, Aramus guarauna pictus, and of course Aramus guarauna guarauna.
5.) Their primary vocalization is a loud, wild scream or wail with a hint of a rattling quality, that sounds like “kwEEEeeer or klAAAar.” This call is most frequently produced at night, at dawn, and at dusk. Other calls include “wooden clicking”, clucks, and an alarm call, which is a “piercing bihk, bihk…”.
But wait, there’s more on the limpkin!
6.) These birds are both nocturnal (active at night) and crepuscular (active at dawn and dusk).
7.) The preferred habitats are freshwater marshes and swamps, typically with tall reeds, as well as mangrove areas.
Did you know…?
There are an estimated 687,000 wild individuals remaining, to date.
8.) Limpkins are not aggressive for the most part, being rather unbothered by other species and seldom ever fight with members of their own kind.
9.) Due to their long toes, they have the ability to stand on floating water plants. They also swim quite well, but they seldom do.
10.) Besides apple snails and other snails, they also feast on insects, frogs, lizards, crustaceans (like crayfish), worms, seeds, water hyacinth, and water lettuce.
But wait, there’s still more on the limpkin!
11.) When feeding on apple snails, they will remove the operculum or “lid” and extract the snail, often times not breaking the shell. The extraction takes up to 20 seconds. The orange-yellow yolk gland of female snails is usually shaken loose and discarded. They often leave piles of empty shells at their favorite spots.
12.) Nests are constructed on the ground, in thick floating vegetation, in bushes, or even in trees.
Did you know…?
Most of the limpkin’s names throughout their range are onomatopoeic (imitate the actual sounds they describe) and are reflective of the bird’s call; for instance, carau in Argentina, carrao in Venezuela, and guareáo in Cuba.
13.) Females lay up to 8 eggs that hatch in up to 27 days.
14.) The young hatch precocial (self sufficient) and covered with down. They are capable of walking, running, and even swimming soon after hatching.
15.) Common predators include: American alligators, snakes, raccoons, crows, and muskrats. Snail kites also engage in kleptoparasitism (stealing of food from another animal).
Now a Short Limpkin Video!
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Some source material acquired from: Wikipedia & IUCN
Photo credit: V.J. Anderson
