Limpkin

Limpkins were one of the life-birds I got at Lake Okeechobee. They were so abundant along the lake that I had a lot of time to watch them. These birds birds are in the same order (Gruiformes) as Cranes and Rails. They are in their own monotypic family, Aramidae. Some of their calls even sound like Sandhill Cranes. The Gruiformes were well represented at Lake Okeechobee, with Common Moorhens, Purple Gallinules, and Sandhill Cranes all commonly found, and I imagine that there were other rail species hiding in the reeds. Limpkins have a crazy laughing call and walk around on the floating vegetation picking up snails. I couldn't believe the size of some of the snails they were getting, some were bigger than a baseball. They would put them down and smash into them with their beak. For a size comparison, they are about the size of an Ibis.