AIAI reconstruction created with Nano Banana 2 · 1K, grounded in the profile’s documented taxonomy, habitat, natural-history sources, and an open-license visual reference when available. It is an interpretive image, not documentary evidence. Image policy →
Limpkin
Carrao
Aramus guarauna
The limpkin (Aramus guarauna), also called carrao, courlan, and crying bird, is a large wading bird related to rails and cranes, and the only extant species in the family Aramidae. It is found mostly in wetlands in warm parts of the Americas, from Florida to northern Argentina, but has been spotted as far north as Wisconsin and Southern Ontario. It feeds on molluscs, with the diet dominated by apple snails of the genus Pomacea. Its name derives from its seeming limp when it walks.
Sound archive
Hear its voice
Explore real songs and calls. The spectrogram turns each sound into a visual trace of time and frequency.
Play: call by Marcos E. Sosa
Choose another recording
Sound recorded by Marcos E. Sosa · XC1120047 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. Visualization by Stichting Xeno-canto voor Natuurgeluiden.
Every recording retains the creator, catalogue number, and license published by Xeno-canto. Metadata via GBIF ↗
Island profile
About the Limpkin
The limpkin (Aramus guarauna), also called carrao, courlan, and crying bird, is a large wading bird related to rails and cranes, and the only extant species in the family Aramidae. It is found mostly in wetlands in warm parts of the Americas, from Florida to northern Argentina, but has been spotted as far north as Wisconsin and Southern Ontario. It feeds on molluscs, with the diet dominated by apple snails of the genus Pomacea. Its name derives from its seeming limp when it walks.
Conservation
Least Concern
IUCN LC
- Global IUCN
- LC
- Puerto Rico DNER
- No current listing in source crosswalk
- Federal ESA
- No current listing in source crosswalk
- Critical habitat
- Not identified in source crosswalk
Natural history
How it lives
- Habitat
- wetlands
- Elevation
- 0–1500 m
- Nest
- Ground; Tree
- Clutch
- 3–8 eggs
- Social behavior
- Pairs / family groups; Solitary
Keep exploring
This bird belongs to 7 paths through the atlas.
Related in the atlas
Where to fly next
Connected by taxonomy, habitat, occurrence, and conservation.
AI
AI
AI
AI
AI
AI
Evidence trail
Sources, media & further reading
Research note: SOPI 2006 listed Limpkin extirpated; birds recolonized by 2012 and Avibase now lists it without a rarity flag.