It is found mostly in wetlands in warm parts of the Americas, from Florida to northern Argentina, but has been spotted as far north as Wisconsin[3] and Southern Ontario.

[6] The limpkin had been suggested to be close to the ibis and spoonbill family Threskiornithidae, based upon shared bird lice.

The Sibley–Ahlquist taxonomy of birds, based upon DNA–DNA hybridization, suggested that the limpkin's closest relatives were the Heliornithidae finfoots, and Sibley and Monroe even placed the species in that family in 1990.

[10] Although the limpkin is the only extant species in the family today, several fossils of extinct Aramidae are known from across the Americas.

The earliest known species, Aramus paludigrus, is dated to the middle Miocene,[11] while the oldest supposed members of the family, Aminornis and Loncornis, have been found in early Oligocene deposits in Argentina, although whether these are indeed related is not certain;[8] in fact, Loncornis seems to be a misidentified mammal bone.

Another Oligocene fossil from Europe, Parvigrus pohli (family Parvigruidae), has been described as a mosaic of the features shared by the limpkins and the cranes.

It shares many morphological features with the cranes and limpkins, but also was much smaller than either group, and was more rail-like in its proportions.

Its common vocalization is a loud wild wail or scream[14][17] with some rattling quality, represented as "kwEEEeeer or klAAAar.

In South America, it occurs widely east of the Andes; west of them its range extends only to the Equator.

One study in Florida using wing tags found limpkins dispersed up to 325 km (202 mi) away from the breeding site.

[8] They fly strongly, the neck projecting forward and the legs backward,[17] the wings beating shallowly and stiffly, with a jerky upstroke, above the horizontal most of the time.

[8] They walk slowly with a gait described as "slightly undulating" and "giving the impression of lameness or limping",[17] "high-stepping",[14] or "strolling",[15] looking for food if the water is clear or probing with the bill.

[21] Freshwater mussels, including Anodonta cowperiana, Villosa vibex, Elliptio strigosus, E. jayensis, and Uniomerus obesus, as well as other kinds of snails, are a secondary food sources.

[8] Less important prey items are insects, frogs, lizards, crustaceans (such as crayfish)[22] and worms,[17] as well as seeds.

[23][22] These prey items may be important in periods of drought or flooding when birds may be pushed into less than optimal foraging areas.

[8][21] When a limpkin finds an apple snail, it carries it to land or very shallow water and places it in mud, the opening facing up.

Territories may be maintained year-round or abandoned temporarily during the nonbreeding season, usually due to lack of food.

[8] Nests may be built in a wide variety of places – on the ground, in dense floating vegetation,[24] in bushes, or at any height in trees.

Their background color ranges from gray-white through buff to deep olive, and they are marked with light-brown and sometimes purplish-gray blotches and speckles.

The male remains territorial during incubation, and leaves the clutch to chase off intruders; if this happens, the female returns quickly to the eggs.

Also, adults with serious foot and leg injuries have been reported, suggesting they may have been attacked by turtles while standing on floating vegetation.

[26] Many of the limpkin's names across its range are onomatopoeic and reflect the bird's call; for example, carau in Argentina, carrao in Venezuela, and guareáo in Cuba.