{"id":2142,"date":"2011-03-24T12:29:22","date_gmt":"2011-03-24T19:29:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=2142"},"modified":"2024-12-15T06:24:49","modified_gmt":"2024-12-15T12:24:49","slug":"limpkins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2011\/03\/24\/limpkins\/","title":{"rendered":"Limpkins"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"LimpkinLimpkin portrait in early morning light –\u00a0\u00a0 Nikon D200, f6.3, 1\/250, ISO 320, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 400mm, early morning light<\/span><\/p>\n

Limpkins are related to cranes and rails although their\u00a0appearance is\u00a0more like herons and egrets. They are found in southeastern North America in\u00a0freshwater habitats that can support apple snails, the main diet of Limpkins. Their range is being reduced by development and water level manipulation which directly impacts\u00a0apple snails and by introduced species. Recent attempts at wetlands restoration in the Everglades and the Upper St Johns River Marsh may offer hope for this curious chocolate colored bird with long legs and a curved bill.<\/p>\n

They often hide in among the vegetation of marshes and wooded swamps but can also be found in freshwater canals and ditches. Quite often I would know that Limpkins were present even before I saw them because of their distinctive calls, it is a sound you do not forget once you have heard the eerie quality of their call.\u00a0 There is a sound clip here<\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n

\"LimpkinLimpkin with a snail in its bill –\u00a0 Nikon D200, f6.3, 1\/350, ISO 200, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 400mm, natural light <\/span><\/p>\n

The photo above shows a Limpkin I saw and photographed as it caught and ate this huge apple snail.\u00a0This bird took the snail to the shoreline and used its curved bill to remove the snail from its shell. Limpkins also feed on mussels, insects, spiders and other snail species besides the apple snails.<\/p>\n

Their nests consist of vegetation placed on the ground or in trees and they produce 1-3 broods a season.<\/p>\n

They may not be as beautifully colored as a Roseate Spoonbill or as common as Sandhill Cranes in Florida but to me they are interesting and appealing birds.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Limpkin photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n

\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Limpkins may not be as beautifully colored as a Roseate Spoonbill or as common as Sandhill Cranes in Florida but to me they are uniquely interesting and appealing birds.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":137874,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,25,1882,479,2000],"tags":[4004,481,1045,215,4935,8831,8830,2431,4977,610,4095,8829],"class_list":["post-2142","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-florida","category-lake-seminole-florida","category-limpkins","category-pinellas-county-florida","tag-adult","tag-apple-snails","tag-aramus-guarauna","tag-bird-id","tag-call","tag-curved-bill","tag-distinctive","tag-limpkin","tag-limpkins","tag-marshes","tag-wetlands","tag-wooded-swamps"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/limpkin-head-shot-mia-mcpherson-0808.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/s11Mom-limpkins","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":48790,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/10\/05\/limpkins-in-florida\/","url_meta":{"origin":2142,"position":0},"title":"Limpkins in Florida","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 5, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Florida is about as far north as Limpkins are found in North America and they can be seen in freshwater marshes, ponds, lakeshores and swamps.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Limpkin and an Apple Snail at Lake Seminole Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/limpkin-snail-mia-mcpherson-4556.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/limpkin-snail-mia-mcpherson-4556.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/limpkin-snail-mia-mcpherson-4556.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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McPherson","date":"March 13, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Last year I had the pleasure of photographing this nonbreeding Sora in the Centennial Valley of Montana.","rel":"","context":"In "Beaverhead County"","block_context":{"text":"Beaverhead County","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/montana\/beaverhead-county-montana\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Sora foraging in a farm pond in the Centennial Valley of Beaverhead County, Montana","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/sora-montana-mia-mcpherson-3673.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/sora-montana-mia-mcpherson-3673.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/sora-montana-mia-mcpherson-3673.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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Black-necked Stilts are black and white shorebirds with long pink to reddish legs, thin black bills and lovely red eyes.","rel":"","context":"In "Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge"","block_context":{"text":"Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Black-necked Stilt in shallow water at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/black-necked-stilt-mia-mcpherson-5249.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/black-necked-stilt-mia-mcpherson-5249.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/black-necked-stilt-mia-mcpherson-5249.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/black-necked-stilt-mia-mcpherson-5249.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":147999,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2025\/06\/09\/three-toed-box-turtle-at-sequoyah-nwr\/","url_meta":{"origin":2142,"position":5},"title":"Three-toed Box Turtle At Sequoyah NWR","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"June 9, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"This morning I\u2019m sharing two views of a Three-toed Box Turtle I photographed early last week at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge.","rel":"","context":"In "Oklahoma"","block_context":{"text":"Oklahoma","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/oklahoma\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Frontal view of an adult Three-toed Box Turtle, Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, Oklahoma","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/three-toed-box-turtle-sequoyah-mia-mcpherson-9361.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/three-toed-box-turtle-sequoyah-mia-mcpherson-9361.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/three-toed-box-turtle-sequoyah-mia-mcpherson-9361.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/three-toed-box-turtle-sequoyah-mia-mcpherson-9361.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2142","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2142"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2142\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/137874"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2142"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2142"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2142"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}