A wetland bird with long legs and a curved bill. It searches freshwater marshes for aquatic snails and ranges from southern North America into South America.
It is brown with pale spots and streaks on the head and neck. It has a long neck and legs and a bill curved downward at the tip.
In freshwater wetlands, it searches shallow water, mud, and vegetation for snails. It inserts the bill tip into the shell and cuts the snail’s muscle to extract the flesh.
The male does most nest building, and the female may help toward the end. In North America, clutches contain 4–7 eggs and incubation lasts 26–28 days.
In flight it extends the head and neck forward and the legs behind, using shallow wingbeats.
North American birds have extensive white spotting, with narrower, streaklike markings in juveniles. The nominate subspecies of eastern Panama and South America is smaller and darker, with white markings confined to the neck.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.