Limpkin Identification

Adult (Speckled)

Tall, long-legged bird of marshes and swampy forests with a long neck and a long and heavy yellowish bill. Brown overall with white spotting on the back and sides.

Adult/immature (Brown-backed)

Adult and Juvenile

An Apple Snail specialist, Limpkins use their strong decurved bills to pry open these snails before eating them. Other food items taken include frogs, lizards, crustaceans, worms, and aquatic insects.

Adult (Speckled)

Uses the long and heavy bill to break apart the shells of apple snails, its primary food source.

Adult/immature (Speckled)

Long and heavy yellowish bill used to open apple snails. Long neck is streaked in white giving it an overall pale appearance.

Adult/immature

Typically inhabits freshwater marshes, swamp forests, and pond or lake shores.

Adult/immature (Brown-backed)

Large. Brown overall with a long, pale neck and a long, heavy bill. Walks on top of floating mats of vegetation as well as up branches leaning over water.

Adult and juvenile (Speckled)

Juvenile is similar to adult, but with narrower spots, which makes them look more streaked than spotted.

Juvenile

By two weeks of age, young birds begin to show foraging behavior, but are not able to feed themselves efficiently until five weeks of age.

Habitat

Adult/immature

Limpkins have shallow wingbeats when flying—the upward strokes are quick and "snappy," while the downstrokes are slower. Flies with head and neck extended with legs trailing behind.