Hello birders!
Almost everyone who was able to watch the Limpkin this November in Lewiston, noted that it was eating a prodigious number of snails. You usually only had to wait a few seconds before you would see it probing into the ground, pulling out a snail, cracking it open, peeling off the shell, then throwing it down the hatch. I was told that this was not a native species of snail but unfortunately, after seeing so many people, I don't remember who told me that. It is well known that Limpkins are expanding their breeding range in the southeastern US, due to the presence of an invasive species of apple snail. However, that apple snail has not made it anywhere close to NYS, as far as I am aware. It is also much larger than the snails that the Limpkin was feeding on in Lewiston. If anyone knows anything about the snails that the Lewiston Limpkin was feeding on, I would appreciate hearing from you. If you can provide a published reference or let me know where your information is from, that would be great. This could be used in an article I am currently writing. There are several photos of the bird with a snail. You can look through all of the photos of this bird on eBird: https://media.ebird.org/catalog?taxonCode=limpki <https://media.ebird.org/catalog?taxonCode=limpki®ionCode=US-NY-063> ®ionCode=US-NY-063 Some nice ones with a snail are in this checklist from Karen Lee Lewis: https://ebird.org/checklist/S122604545 Here is another from Brian Morse: https://ebird.org/checklist/S122609092 There is a nice close-up of the snail in this checklist from Alan Bloom: https://ebird.org/checklist/S122570469 Another close-up here, from Tim Healy: https://ebird.org/checklist/S122510990 One from Kyle Gage: https://ebird.org/checklist/S122518905 From Joel Farwell: https://ebird.org/checklist/S122507081 Thanks, and good birding! Willie ------------------ Willie D'Anna Wilson, NY dannapotterATroadrunnerDOTcom -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME.htm http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES.htm http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L 3) http://birding.aba.org/maillist/NY01 Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
