"Crying Bird"

Limpkin, also called Courlan, or Crying Bird, (species Aramus guarauna), large swamp bird of the American tropics, sole member of the family Aramidae.

One of North America's most curious birds, the Limpkin is singular in appearance and unusual in its diet, with extraordinary vocal habits and a restricted range in the United States. It looks like an oversized rail, well camouflaged in brown with spots of white, and is a locally distributed resident in freshwater marsh and riparian habitats from Florida south through the Caribbean islands and Central and South America as far as Argentina, Peru, and Bolivia. In Florida, where it has been best studied, its diet is almost exclusively apple snails (Pomacea paludosa), which it deftly finds and opens with the aid of a bent and twisted bill tip, leaving characteristic piles of unbroken snail shells. The male's loud and mournful calling is especially distinctive. The sound of several males countercalling has been described as "one of the weirdest cacophonies of nature". Ritualistic territorial charging displays, courtship feeding, and a surprising variety of nest sites add to this species' unusual appeal.

 

I found this one at Joe Overstreet Landing Lake Kissimmee, Osceola County Florida.

It was back lit by the sun.

Done