BIRDS EATING APPLE SNAILS

     Several kinds of apple snails live in fresh-water marshes, ponds and larger, sluggish waterways in tropical regions, from Florida to the West Indies, southern Mexico and much of South America.  Apple snails are the largest of their kind on Earth and, therefore, are good meals for limpkins, heron-like, wading birds with long legs, neck and beak, and snail kites, a type of crow-sized hawk.  Both these bird species prey almost exclusively on apple snails.  And both kinds of birds have bills especially adapted to extract the snails from their shells.      

     Apple snails consume a variety of aquatic vegetation.  Each individual is either male or female.  And these snails are amphibious in that they are adapted to surviving in alternating water and drought by having a gill and a lung.  And each snail has an operculum that seals its shell tight to retain body fluids during drought.  Female apple snails spawn clusters of pink eggs an inch or two above the normal water line so fish can't eat them.

     Limpkins stand over two feet tall and are brown-feathered, with white streaks and dots all over.  They are the only species in their genus, worldwide.  They wade stealthily and quietly in shallow water, mostly at night, in search of apple snails to eat.  Their long bills are like tweezers that pull the soft bodies of the snails out of their shells.  Limpkins often wail loudly and repeatedly "kreeee-ow", mostly at night.  They probably frighten many people who don't know about them.

     Limpkins live, and raise young in trees, in Florida, the West Indies, southern Mexico and much of South America, the range of their main prey- apple snails.  And snails is what they feed their young.  Limpkins and snail kites evolved, in different ways, to ingest apple snails, which they depend on almost exclusively, therefore they live where the apple snails do.

     Snail kites have thin, sharply-decurved beaks especially designed for pulling apple snails from their shells.  Male snail kites are grey with orange legs, while their mates and young are brown with darker streaking, which better camouflages them.  All these kites have a white base to their tail and are broad-winged for floating lightly on the slightest of breezes slowly and low over marshes and ponds.  These raptors have no need for speed or power because they are preying on snails.  

     Snail kites live, and rear offspring in loose colonies in bushes over marshes, in Florida, the West Indies, southern Mexico and much of South America, the same range as the apple snails and the limpkins.  Some pairs of these hawks might raise two broods of two or three young each, per year. 

     Snail kites are nomadic, moving around a lot to find marshes with abundant snails in them.  Stable water conditions are best for apple snails, and that is where several snail kites settle to raise a brood.  Fluctuating water levels and draining of marshes is not good for apple snails, or limpkins and snail kites.

     Though not related, limpkins and snail kites have adapted to feeding almost exclusively on apple snails, creatures large enough to make good meals in abundance.  Limpkins and snail kites demonstrate how all species of life adapt to their habitats and food sources to survive and reproduce.











some  



     

 

                

     

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

SPRING ON THE UPPER CHESAPEAKE

      I visited the Upper Chesapeake Bay at the Community Park of Northeast, Maryland one afternoon about the middle of March a few years ago, as I had several times in different seasons before that day.  This time, I went there to spot migrating water birds of various kinds.        Because of their high numbers, gulls and ducks were the dominant birds on the ice, and strips of open water among the slabs of ice because of the warming weather in March.  Most of the handsome ring-billed, herring and great black-backed gulls stood picturesquely on slabs of ice.        The attractive, adult ring-billed and herring gulls are mostly gray on top, white below, and look much alike, except the herrings are larger and have a red mark on their beaks, whereas each ring-bill has a black "ring" around its bill.  Largest of these gulls, the stately, mature black-backs have black backs and upper wings and are white below, making a striking, attractive plumage pattern.        All three of thos
Read more

DADDY-LONG-LEGS

     During summer, over the years in southeastern Pennsylvania, I've seen many daddy-long-legs on the bark of tree trunks on lawns, and in parks and woods.  They blend into the color of tree bark well and are difficult to see.  Many people never see them at all until those camouflaged little critters are pointed out by people in the know about them.        Daddy-long-legs have eight, really long, thin legs, but they are not spiders.  But they are arachnids, and related to spiders.  These attractive, little creatures, called daddy-long-legs because of their long legs, have quarter-inch, compact bodies raised on stilt-like legs.  They have two dark eyes and feel the vibrations of birds and other predators with their legs.  But these arachnids have no venom, or silk to make webs.        Daddy-long-legs, like all other living beings, are part of several food chains.  They consume tiny invertebrates and decaying plant and animal materials they find on tree bark.  And, in turn, many of
Read more

FATHER FINCHES FEEDING FLEDGINGS

     While sitting on our back deck to enjoy the lovely scenery and weather during the afternoon of July 21, 2023, I noticed a tiny, red speck in our tall Norway spruce tree on our suburban lawn in southeastern Pennsylvania.  Peering at that red spot with 16 power binoculars, I saw it was a beautiful male house finch feeding three fledgling house finches; his offspring.  Those gray and dark-streaked young birds fluttered their wings vigorously while being fed invertebrates and seeds.  And the wild charm of those birds was decidedly enhanced by the deep-green of the needled spruce boughs.        Those four house finches were a lovely, exciting sight to me.  I know that species of small birds raises young in our neighborhood every summer, including a pair of house finches that hatch offspring on a support under an awning over our deck.  But never before had I watched a father house finch feed his young outside their twig and grass cradle.  And when that male finch flew off the spruce lim
Read more