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.
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.
Uses the long and heavy bill to break apart the shells of apple snails, its primary food source.
Long and heavy yellowish bill used to open apple snails. Long neck is streaked in white giving it an overall pale appearance.
Typically inhabits freshwater marshes, swamp forests, and pond or lake shores.
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.
Juvenile is similar to adult, but with narrower spots, which makes them look more streaked than spotted.
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.
A heron-sized bird with heavy body and long neck and legs. The bill is long, fairly thick, and curves slightly downward, like a larger version of a rail’s bill.
Larger than a night-heron, much smaller than a Great Egret.
goose-sized or largerThree subspecies found in Florida, Mexico, the Caribbean, and most of Central America are very similar to each other. A fourth subspecies that occurs from eastern Panama through South America, known as guarana, is smaller, darker, and has white markings only on the neck. Some authors have considered guarana to be a separate species.
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