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education: birds of georgia Limpkin, Aramus guarauna
Status: Accidental. Formerly rare and local along rivers in Coastal Plain with possible breeding on Altamaha R. Historic records: mouth of Altamaha R., 22 May 1945( Glynn ) (suspected breeding); Chickasawhatchee Swamp ( Dougherty ); Okefenokee Swamp ( Charlton ) 13 May 1912; St.Mary's R. ( Charlton ) 30 Nov 1932 and 19 Jan 1938; Mill Creek ( Camden ) 24 Feb 1936; Ocmulgee R.( Ben Hill, Coffee, Jeff Davis ) dates unrecorded; Ochlockonee R. ( Grady ) 21 Oct 1961 and 1978 (four seen); and Atlanta ( Fulton ) 13 Jul 1956; No sightings from 1978 until 5 Sep 1994 when one bird was seen following a hurricane ( Monroe ) (photo). On 4 Aug 2000, on bird was seen at confluence of the Altamaha and Ohoopee R. ( Tattnall ). On 29 Apr 2001, one bird was photographed at Harris Neck NWR ( McIntosh ). On 8 Oct 2001, Malcolm Hodges found one bird at Gamecock Lake, a backwater of the Altamaha R.( McIntosh ). Later searches in area found two birds from 28 Oct - 3 Nov, 2001 (Beaton, et al, 2003). On 6 June 2004, Patrick Brisse found one bird at Lake Blalock (Clayton). In early June 2006, a spate of sighting excited new hopes for a comeback of the species in Georgia: two birds at Reed Bingham S.P ( Cook ); four birds in Chickasawhatchee Swamp ( Dougherty ); one bird at Lake Blalock ( Clayton ); one bird at Altamaha WMA ( McIntosh ), and one bird on Alex Creek on Altamaha R. ( Wayne ). Recent sightings suggest status of species may be changing to rare and local. More study needed. Habitat: Freshwater swamps and marshes. Most Georgia sightings along rivers of Coastal Plain. The presence of invasive Asian clam, corbicula fluminea, has lured species to the open at Lake Blalock in the Piedmont ( Clayton ) where the clams thrive. Forbidding swamp habitat of the species has thwarted study Diet: Large snails, mussels and clams. Also insects, crustaceans, worms, frogs and lizards (Kaufman, 1996). Range of species was once thought to mirror the range of the Apple Snail (genus Pomacea ), one of its favored food items, which occurs mainly in FL and s GA. Invasion of Corbicula fluminea has provided the species a new food source. Both birds seen at Lake Blalock ( Clayton ) fed heavily on these clams, which are present in most river systems in Georgia. Forages in shallow water by slowly walking and probing in the mud with bill. When bivalve is located, it is seized and taken to solid ground where a single blow from the bill opens the shell and permits the meat to be devoured. Identification: Large, long-legged dark brown bird. Long, thick slightly decurved bill, orange at the base with dark tip. Iris dark. Legs blackish. Wings, back and neck prominently marked with white chevrons. Head light brown with white streaks, contrasting with dark brown body feathers. Short tail. Call is a loud, blood-curdling scream, usually made at dawn and dusk. Conservation: Hunted almost to extinction by 1900 but has made a comeback with legal protection. Habitat destruction major threat in U.S. and tropics.
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