#1367 · 🐦 birds
Limpkin
🇳🇱 Koerlan ·Aramus guarauna
10 photos from iNaturalist (Creative Commons) · credits & licences
- 1. © David Monroy R · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 2. © Edward Perry IV · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 3. © Juan Bou Riquer · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
- 4. © JeffreyGammon · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 5. © Court Harding · CC BY 4.0
- 6. © Dr. Andrew G. Cannizzaro · CC BY 4.0
- 7. © Dave Govoni · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
- 8. © timoteo_b · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 9. © Edward Perry IV · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 10. © Phil's 1stPix · CC BY-NC 4.0
what is it?
The limpkin ( Aramus guarauna ), also called carrao , courlan , and crying bird , is a bird that looks like a large rail but is skeletally closer to cranes. It is the only extant species in the genus Aramus and the family Aramidae . It is found mostly in wetlands in warm parts of the Americas, from Florida to northern Argentina. It feeds on molluscs, with the diet dominated by apple snails of the genus Pomacea . Its name derives from...
base stats
Bars compare against all animals on log scales: up to 300,000 Dutch and 600,000 worldwide sightings (the most-seen species), 150 t (blue whale), 30 m and 400 years (Greenland shark).
fun facts
- No confirmed wild sightings in the Netherlands on iNaturalist: you'd have to travel for this one.
- 30,520 observations worldwide on iNaturalist.
- Weighs up to about 1.1 kg.
- Scientifically named in 1766 (260 years ago).
fact sheet
- English
- Limpkin
- Nederlands
- Koerlan
- scientific name
- Aramus guarauna
- class
- Aves
- order
- Gruiformes
- family
- Aramidae
- IUCN Red List
- LC · least concern
- sightings in NL
- 0
- sightings worldwide
- 30,520
- GBIF records in NL
- 0
- weight
- 1.1 kg
- length
- —
- lifespan
- —
- named
- 1766
IUCN in Dutch: niet bedreigd. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: iNaturalist taxon 7, Wikidata Q725276, GBIF 2474337, Wikipedia (EN), Wikipedia (NL). Intro text from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.