17 August 2023
After a limpkin was found yesterday afternoon in a small cove at Moraine State Park (first ever in Butler County!) western PA’s birding world spun on its axis and rapidly went to search out it. Many noticed the chook yesterday together with Steve Gosser who shared his picture above.
Limpkins (Aramus guarauna) are very, very uncommon this far north. Primarily from South America, these mussel and snail-eating wading birds have prolonged their vary solely to Florida the place they stay 12 months spherical.
So what’s a limpkin doing right here? And never simply “right here.” A limpkin confirmed up at Center Creek Wildlife Administration Space final month and was nonetheless there final weekend. Two limpkins have been in reverse corners of Ohio.
The truth is, limpkins have been doing this loopy Northern Summer time Go to factor for a very long time however it seems they’ve ramped up since 2016. On 8 July 2023 Tim Healy posted a map of Limpkin Firsts in North America on the ABA Uncommon Hen Alert on Fb. (The colour descriptors are for the map.)
“Sizzling Limpkin Summer time endlessly! Maintain it going! Who’s subsequent?
Inexperienced: house base
Blue: historic first data
Orange: 2016-2022 first data
Purple: 2023 first data”
ABA Uncommon Hen Alert on Fb: 8 July 2023, Tim Healy
This eBird map reveals the place they’ve been in 2023 up till 16 August. (I’ve marked the Butler County sighting as a crimson asterisk.)
Is that this an irruption of limpkins much like the winter irruption of snowy owls? Possibly…
Younger night-herons usually do an out-of-range dispersal on the finish of the breeding season when first-year birds discover to the north, then head house or die throughout their journey. Maybe limpkins are doing it, too. Maybe they’ve had a lot breeding success that there are additional limpkins to attempt it. (This household of 5 was photographed in Florida in 2014.)
It’ll take some analysis to know the reply. The limpkins aren’t saying.
(images by Steve Gosser and from Wikimedia Commons, maps from Wikimedia and eBird)
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