O, the limpkin: Once endangered native Florida bird howls through the Naples dawn

Kate Cimini| Fort Myers News-Press

Most nights, the residents in and around Kings Lake, Naples, listen to screaming, crying, and howling.

All because of a few lonely limpkins.

Known as Florida’s loudest bird, several limpkins haunt the shores of Kings Lake each year, searching for a mate. Once considered endangered, limpkins are a version of a rail, roughly the size of a heron, and are mostly brown and black, with white and yellow feathers peeking out between.

The limpkin has a long, downward curved beak, which it uses to snag its favorite snails from the bottom of freshwater marshes and lakes.

According to the National Audubon Society, the limpkin is a wading bird with no close relatives. It feeds largely on freshwater apple snails in Florida and southern Georgia, and spends most of its time alone.

Naples neighbors of the limpkins say they are generally easy neighbors. They spend most of their days in the tall pines that dot the skirts of King’s Lake, and residents say they don’t have to take special precautions to avoid bothering the birds — but the birds don’t have the same compunctions.

Read the full article on naplesnews.com.