Limpkin

Limpkin
At St. John's River, Florida

Secure  (NatureServe)[2]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Gruiformes
Family: Aramidae
Genus: Aramus
Species:
A. guarauna
Binomial name
Aramus guarauna
(Linnaeus, 1766)
Range of A. guarauna
Synonyms
  • Scolopax guarauna Linnaeus, 1766
An adult Limpkin walks down the bank of Lake Cecile near Kissimmee, FL

The limpkin (Aramus guarauna), also called carrao, courlan, and crying bird, is a large wading bird related to rails and cranes, and the only extant species in the family Aramidae. It is found mostly in wetlands in warm parts of the Americas, from Florida to northern Argentina, but has been spotted as far north as Wisconsin[3] and Southern Ontario.[4] It feeds on molluscs, with the diet dominated by apple snails of the genus Pomacea. Its name derives from its seeming limp when it walks.[5]

  1. ^ BirdLife International (2016). "Aramus guarauna". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016: e.T22692174A93339530. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22692174A93339530.en. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  2. ^ "NatureServe Explorer 2.0". explorer.natureserve.org. Retrieved 20 October 2022.
  3. ^ "Tropical bird spotted for first time in Pennsylvania - CBS Pittsburgh". www.cbsnews.com. 2023-07-12. Retrieved 2023-07-14.
  4. ^ "Rarities seen, records reached during annual Christmas bird counts". www.windsorstar.com. 2023-12-28.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference NatGeo was invoked but never defined (see the help page).