According to the Florida Museum of Natural History, Limpkins got their descriptive name from their distinctive gait which makes them appear to limping when they are not. They are large birds related to cranes and feed almost exclusively on snails and mussels. When I was in Florida a couple of weeks ago, we visited a place near a neighborhood on the water where Limpkins limped through the reeds and long the shoreline seeking those snails and mussels. Once they find one, they use their long beaks sort of like a pickax, pounding the shell over and over, trying to break it open to expose the tasty morsel within. It looks like this Limpkin succeeded in getting this fresh water mussel to open up, exposing itself and rewarding the efforts of this interesting bird.