Doug Hayes, of “Breakfast Crew” fame and also a photographer of dancers, favors us today with photos of a bird rarely seen in his parts (Richmond, VA). His captions are indented and you can enlarge the photos by clicking on them.
Word recently went out over the local birding web sites and Facebook groups that a limpkin (Aramus guarauna) had been sighted in Three Lakes Park and Nature Center, located about ten minutes outside of Richmond. Naturally, this mobilized the Bird Nerds. At any given time, there were ten or more of us photographing the bird. Limpkins are tropical wetlands birds whose territory covers South and Central America and extends northward into Florida. [See range map at bottom.]
The birds spend much of their time probing the water and mud for shellfish and other aquatic invertebrates. This specimen found and ate several large freshwater mussels as we watched. With food this plentiful, the bird will probably linger in the area until the weather turns cooler. Of concern is that limpkins have little fear of humans and on several occasions this one has walked very close to people and sometimes wandered around the parking lots. Hopefully, people will respect the animal and not harm it.
The limpkin wandering along the edge of a stream in search of food. Totally unafraid of people, it actually walked between two of the photographers photographing it:
Doing a bit of preening after a successful hunt for mussels:
Enjoying a good scratch:
Back on the hunt:
Stretching:
More preening:
Eureka! A large freshwater mussel!:
After finding the mussel, the limpkin carried it out of the shade and into the harsh morning sunlight, so the pictures are not so good here. It made quick work of opening the shell:
And even quicker work plucking the mussel from the shell:
Enjoying the feast!:
Here’s the limpkin’s ange map from the Cornell Site All About Birds. They are nonmigratory, so this is their year-round range. The map adds, “Not migratory but dispersing individuals are occasionally found far from range, especially during severe drought.” Doug’s bird was very far from home!
Camera info: Sony A7RV camera body, Sony FE 200-600 lens + 1.4X teleconverter, iFootage Cobra 2 monopod, Neewer gimbal tripod head. I did not have to use digital zoom as the bird stayed so close most of the time
When I was a young assistant professor at the University of South Florida, I had the pleasure of hosting the late Allan Wilson for a seminar and to spend some time outdoors with at Lettuce Lake Park in Tampa. He was fixated on seeing limpkins; fortunately, with the assistance of an ornithology graduate student, we did. Wilson’s visit was a high point of what was overall a difficult period in my life.
Very nice pics. Richmond is pretty far outside the Limpkins typical range!
A colloquial name for the Limpkin is “the crying bird,” because of the hair raising wailing cry it makes. Sounds like a human in mortal distress.
My daughter got some good pics of a Limpkin several years ago as we were canoeing on the Wekiva river and surrounds, in Florida.
A very good find! I wonder how such a delicate looking bird can open up a large bivalve like that.
Very cool. Thanks for sharing … and congratulations!
Awesome! Cool that he had strayed just beyond his natural range—and discovered a culinary bounty!
Delightful! Thanks for sharing, Doug!
A limpkin has just taken up residence in the center of Nashville, as well. Very curious!
Lucky you! That is a handsome bird, and you got some great shots of it.