What does a snail have to do with Birding and Birdwatching? That’s what Dawn Chorus is all about, right?
But I wanted to share a special bird that Ms. JG and I observed in our recent Belize trip. It specializes in eating snails. Here are some photos that will help.
Another look at the snail.
And the eggs that it lays.
A closeup of the egg case.
Now for the bird.
Here is the Snail Kite. It looks for a floating snail.
Then flies to a perch to have its meal.
It finds a secure place to perch for the meal.
And then gets a plan of action.
It checks if any dangers lurk before consuming breakfast.
Time to dig in. The shape of the beak is just right for scooping out the escargot, I mean snail.
It protects its catch, even when much of the snail is eaten.
There is another actor in this drama. Limpkin also eat snails. They can’t catch them on the fly and have to find them within wading distance.
Limpkin don’t use their feet to get the snails. They use their beaks as they wade in the shallows.
You can tell that this beak would work well dining on snails.
I don’t have a photo of a Limkin eating a snail. Maybe Lenny or someone in Florida can add that photo.
The floor is now open for comments. If you have a ‘snail’ catch story of your own or what’s going on in your part of the country, I’d like to hear from you.