I shared this thread with my friend Susan Hewitt, who is a snail expert of some renown. She agrees with the ID:
“The snail is an introduced species of European land snail, Cepaea nemoralis. That species is fairly common in some places, but it is not really considered to be an invasive.” Fascinating discussion! GW > On Dec 6, 2022, at 10:54 AM, steve rosenthal <smr...@gmail.com> wrote: > > It's interesting to see this bird was eating terrestrial snails. When > seeing the subject line of the email chain I would have guessed that > it had been eating the freshwater 'chinese mystery snail', > Cipangopaludina chinensis, a > widespread, established invasive, which is present in the Hudson and > Niagara River systems (and probably lots of other places in upstate > NY- they are widespread here on Long Island). > > The 'mystery snail' approximates the size and shape (and possibly the > nutritional value) of the normal prey species down South (apple > snails- genus Pomacea- 1 native and several introduced species). > > >> On 12/6/22, Andy Guthrie <guthr...@gmail.com> wrote: >> Here's an iNat entry from Tim Healy of a closely-related Brown-lipped Snail >> in the Limpkin's bill - >> >> https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/142160854 >> >> Andy Guthrie >> Hamlin, NY >> >>> On Tue, Dec 6, 2022 at 9:47 AM Seth Ausubel <birdherp...@gmail.com> wrote: >>> >>> Looks like the White-lipped Snail, Cepaea hortensis: >>> https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/51039-Cepaea-hortensis >>> >>> On Dec 6, 2022, at 7:33 AM, Willie D'Anna <dannapot...@roadrunner.com> >>> wrote: >>> >>> Hello birders! >>> >>> Almost everyone who was able to watch the Limpkin this November in >>> Lewiston, noted that it was eating a prodigious number of snails. You >>> usually only had to wait a few seconds before you would see it probing >>> into >>> the ground, pulling out a snail, cracking it open, peeling off the shell, >>> then throwing it down the hatch. I was told that this was not a native >>> species of snail but unfortunately, after seeing so many people, I don’t >>> remember who told me that. >>> >>> It is well known that Limpkins are expanding their breeding range in the >>> southeastern US, due to the presence of an invasive species of apple >>> snail. >>> However, that apple snail has not made it anywhere close to NYS, as far >>> as >>> I am aware. It is also much larger than the snails that the Limpkin was >>> feeding on in Lewiston. >>> >>> If anyone knows anything about the snails that the Lewiston Limpkin was >>> feeding on, I would appreciate hearing from you. If you can provide a >>> published reference or let me know where your information is from, that >>> would be great. This could be used in an article I am currently writing. >>> >>> There are several photos of the bird with a snail. You can look through >>> all of the photos of this bird on eBird: >>> https://media.ebird.org/catalog?taxonCode=limpki®ionCode=US-NY-063 >>> Some nice ones with a snail are in this checklist from Karen Lee Lewis: >>> https://ebird.org/checklist/S122604545 Here is another from Brian Morse: >>> https://ebird.org/checklist/S122609092 There is a nice close-up of the >>> snail in this checklist from Alan Bloom: >>> https://ebird.org/checklist/S122570469 Another close-up here, from Tim >>> Healy: https://ebird.org/checklist/S122510990 One from Kyle Gage: >>> https://ebird.org/checklist/S122518905 From Joel Farwell: >>> https://ebird.org/checklist/S122507081 >>> >>> Thanks, and good birding! >>> Willie >>> ------------------ >>> Willie D'Anna >>> Wilson, NY >>> dannapotterATroadrunnerDOTcom >>> >>> -- >>> *NYSbirds-L List Info:* >>> Welcome and Basics <http://www.northeastbirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME.htm> >>> Rules and Information <http://www.northeastbirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES.htm> >>> Subscribe, Configuration and Leave >>> <http://www.northeastbirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm> >>> *Archives:* >>> The Mail Archive >>> <http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html> >>> Surfbirds <http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L> >>> ABA <http://birding.aba.org/maillist/NY01> >>> *Please submit your observations to **eBird* >>> <http://ebird.org/content/ebird/>*!* >>> -- >>> >>> >>> -- >>> *NYSbirds-L List Info:* >>> Welcome and Basics <http://www.northeastbirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME.htm> >>> Rules and Information <http://www.northeastbirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES.htm> >>> Subscribe, Configuration and Leave >>> <http://www.northeastbirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm> >>> *Archives:* >>> The Mail Archive >>> <http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html> >>> Surfbirds <http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L> >>> ABA <http://birding.aba.org/maillist/NY01> >>> *Please submit your observations to **eBird* >>> <http://ebird.org/content/ebird/>*!* >>> -- >>> >> >> -- >> >> NYSbirds-L List Info: >> http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME.htm >> http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES.htm >> http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm >> >> ARCHIVES: >> 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html >> 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L >> 3) http://birding.aba.org/maillist/NY01 >> >> Please submit your observations to eBird: >> http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ >> >> -- > > -- > > NYSbirds-L List Info: > http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME.htm > http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES.htm > http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm > > ARCHIVES: > 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html > 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L > 3) http://birding.aba.org/maillist/NY01 > > Please submit your observations to eBird: > http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ > > -- > -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME.htm http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES.htm http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L 3) http://birding.aba.org/maillist/NY01 Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
