Bird of the Month | July 2026
Limpkin | Aramus guarauna
Limpkin, St. Johns county, Florida. Photo by: David Mollenhauer/Audubon Photography Awards
Florida and southern Georgia have the honor of being the only places in North American that can sustain a permanent limpkin population. These birds specialize in eating apple snails, and only here can the limpkin fulfill their dietary requirements for them!
Their bills are uniquely adapted to forage apple snails-- there is a gap before the tip of their closed bill that allows it to function like a tweezer. The tip is often also curved slightly to the right so it's able to slip into the curve of the shell.
The limpkin is also a conservation success story. Due to overhunting, it was nearly extirpated in Florida, but new laws and conservation efforts allowed the population to recover. However, due to habitat destruction and wetland drainage, there are still major threats to the limpkin population.
If you're searching for a limpkin, they can be found in open fresh-water marshes, wooded swamps along rivers or near springs, and along shores of ponds and lakes.
