H.J. Ruiz – Avian101

As I wrote on previous posts, the best way to find birds is by asking people about any spots where they have seen  birds more often… any birds, doesn’t matter the species, the person doesn’t have to be a birder or expert ornithologist . Then you take it from there. Once you are at the mentioned area you walk round the place carefully scanning with your eyes and get closer if you detect any kind of movement on the ground , trees, bushes, water etc. Do not discount the possibility of the obvious, that  the bird in plain sight!

In the case when I spotted the bird featured today, the Limpkin, I was in the area for some time looking at other birds without realizing that the Limpkin was there. It was with the corner of my eye that  I detected some movement and aimed my attention to that, then after a few minutes I swathe Limpkin come out to the open grass, that made things easy for me! I was lucky this time.

Limpkin – Latin name:  Aramus guarauna

This a bird that looks like a large rail but is skeletally closer to cranes. It is the only extant species in the genus Aramus and the family Aramidae. It is found mostly in wetlands in warm parts of the Americas, from Florida to northern Argentina. It feeds on mollusks, with the diet dominated by apple snails of the genus Pomacea. Its name derives from its seeming limp when it walks.

The Limpkin is a somewhat large bird, 25–29 inches long, with a wingspan of 40–42 inches. Body mass ranges from (2.0 to 2.9 lb), averaging  (2.38 lb). The males are slightly larger than the females in size, but there is no difference in plumage. Its plumage is drab—dark brown with an olive luster above. The feathers of the head, neck, wing coverts, and much of the back and underparts (except the rear) are marked with white, making the body look streaked and the head and neck light gray. It has long, dark-gray legs and a long neck. Its bill is long, heavy, and down-curved, yellowish bill with a darker tip.The bill is slightly open near but not at the end to give it a tweezers-like action in removing snails from their shells, and in many individuals the tip curves slightly to the right, like the apple snails’ shells. The white markings are slightly less conspicuous in first-year birds. Its wings are broad and rounded and its tail is short. It is often confused with the immature American White Ibis.

NOTE: The Limpkin is a new addition to my List of Birds as # 197

Text excerpts © Wikipedia – All photographs © HJ Ruiz – Avian101