If you were to grab your favorite bird field guide, turn to the description of the Limpkin (Aramus guarauna), and consult the range map, you would find the distribution of this species within the United States limited to Florida and adjoining portions of Georgia. It would seem a trip to the Florida peninsula or points further south from Central through South America and the Caribbean islands would be necessary to see this non-migratory, wading bird. At least prior to 2019 such a trip would have been in order, but that year there was a dramatic shift in the distribution of Limpkins. While an occasional vagrant had been previously seen in the southeast United States, in 2019 Limpkins exploded north to Ohio, Illinois, Tennessee and spread west along the gulf coast to Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana while numerous sightings were reported across Georgia and the Carolinas. Since 2019, the Limpkin range expansion has continued with new states adding first sightings to the record books each subsequent year. In 2023, they reached southern Canada and spread as far west as Colorado.
Minnesota’s first recorded Limpkin dropped into the Paul Hugo Farms Wildlife Management Area in Washington County in the summer of 2021. From late May through mid-July, birders flocked to see this extremely out of range bird and to hear its distinctive loud wail echo across the wetland (males have long, double looped tracheas and a large bronchial box that amplifies their calls). Since that initial Minnesota sighting, there has been a Limpkin reported each summer including birds in Olmsted (2022) and Watonwan (2023) counties. Then, most amazingly, a Limpkin visited our chapter area this summer – a sighting that would have been previously unimaginable. On the morning of June 18, biologist Matthew Berg and four fellow researchers were conducting a baseline survey for grass shrimp along the St. Croix River. While examining the slough just west of the parking lot at the National Park Service’s Osceola Landing, the crew noticed a unique bird along the shore. From the Minnesota Ornithologists’ Union Request for Documentation form completed by Matthew: “It was chocolate brown with a grey head, black legs, and a long slightly decurved, black-tipped yellow beak. On the neck and back, the color graded from grey to brown with the upper back having a heavily streaked appearance. The bird was silent, gave no notice to us, and seemed totally focused on foraging. It moved along the shoreline with a jerking motion along with frequent tail twitching, and head turning as it worked the shoreline. As it walked, the neck would jerk from slightly curved to straight in a motion not seen with other wading species. We observed it grab a large exotic mystery snail (Viviparous sp.) and immediately run with wings out up the embankment to extract the snail from its shell under the cover of the canopied silver maple forest. It then returned to feeding/working its way south along the west side of the slough.” Thanks to Matthew’s reporting a few birders were able to see the Limpkin on June 18 as it foraged in the river’s backwaters. The Osceola Landing Limpkin was Minnesota’s fourth sighting and the farthest north to date in North America.
Why are Limpkins suddenly wandering? Limpkins occupy freshwater wetlands and slow-moving waters where they forage for large snails and other mollusks. In their typical range, they feed primarily on native apple snails. It is thought that invasive species of large snails brought into the United States as aquarium pets and released into the wild have quite literally fueled the Limpkin range expansion (Minetor, Randi. Limpkin Range Expansion and Irruptions. North American Birds, 73(1): 4-9). Climate change is also suspected of aiding an exponential increase in these non-native snails. Among the introduced snail species is the exotic mystery snails that the Limpkin at the Osceola Landing was observed pulling out of the St. Croix River.
Maps below show a) an explosion of eBird sightings of Limpkins in 2023 and b) eBird sightings through 2018.
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