Jacana Profile
In biology, a family is a taxonomic rank beneath order and above the genus. Dogs, from the Canidae family make up around 37 species, dotted around the planet.
Falconidae is made up of around 65 species of raptor and can be found all over the world too. Insect families can contain hundreds or even thousands of individuals spread out over the world.
But it’s rare that a family like the Jacanas, made up of only eight species, occupies such a diverse range. Like the Swedes, these humble birds number relatively few but seem to have conquered almost every marketable sector.
Jacana Facts Overview
| Habitat: | Shallow lake vegetation |
| Location: | Asia, Africa, Australia, and the Americas |
| Lifespan: | Up to 10 years |
| Size: | Up to 31cm (12 inches) long |
| Weight: | Up to 290 g (10.2 oz) |
| Colour: | Usually, a mix of browns and blacks, some species have contrasting whites, yellows, blues. |
| Diet: | Insects and other invertebrates, seeds |
| Predators: | Raptors, otters, fish, turtles, crocodilians, and water snakes |
| Top Speed: | Not recorded, poor flyers |
| No. of Species: | 8 |
| Conservation Status: | All Least Concern except Madagascan Jacana: Endangered (IUCN) |
Jacanas are found on the majority of continents outside of Europe and Antarctica. They’re easy to spot because of their gangly legs, but you can often hear them, too. They’re well adapted to life on the lilies, though they have a lot of enemies in the water to look out for.
Unlike almost every other bird species, jacanas reverse the mating roles: males look after the eggs and chicks, and females go off to find a harem to mate with.
This has worked well for 7 of the 8 species, but sadly the Madagascan variety is struggling with habitat loss.
Interesting Jacana Facts
1. They’re unmistakable
This is one of the most common descriptive phrases from various sources on these birds. Jacanas are very strange-looking and immediately identifiable waders from almost all over the world.
There are six genera of Jacanas and only 8 species between them, yet they’ve spanned Africa, Asia, Australia and the Americas.
One species alone, the wattled jacana, spans most of South America and the Andes, as well as Panama and Trinidad. Upon that sits a long, black neck and a head with a yellow beak and a red facial crest.
Curiously, while they look nothing like penguins, these birds are in the same order as auks. Closer relatives include snipes and sandpipers, and these are much more aligned with the jacana style, but the latter is still remarkably different.
African jacanas have a slight heron-like head, but are equally recognisable, sporting a sky-blue crown. The other species are various morphs of much the same style, but what really stands out about them are their feet.
They have long legs that you’d expect from a wader, but unusually long, clawed toes, supporting a distinctively coloured body.
2. Jesus birds
The two most popular common names for these birds are the Lilly Trotter and Jesus Bird. Both refer to its apparent ability to walk on water, which it does using those amazing long toes, which distribute its mass over a wide surface area and support it on lilies and other floating vegetation.
The preferred habitat of the jacana is heavily vegetated, marshy and shallow lakes, where they have evolved to prance effortlessly on the floating plants, out of reach of many of the terrestrial predators that would otherwise grab one.
Still, there are a lot of enemies to the jacana. 1
3. They have a lot of predators
Jacanas can’t fly all that well, and the tropical marshes they inhabit are home to a lot of dangerous animals. Otters, crocs, water snakes and even large fish hunt in these waters, and are all a threat to the jacana.
One adaptation to living among this gauntlet of hungry predators is the production of a very loud alarm call.
4. They’re loud
The jacana vocalisations have been described as squeaks, cackles, twitters and whistles, among others. They’re notoriously vocal and loud when doing it, and this volume is proportional to the threat. The alarm calls warn others of danger, and help keep one another safe.
But they can be quiet, too, and a protective parent will coo to their young. 2
5. They can snorkel
Young chicks have good instincts when they feel threatened. They will dive under the water and pole their noses out to breathe. Some adults do this too, and they can stay under like this for a significant amount of time until they feel safe again.
Some species have a spur on their wings for self-defence, but the primary strategy to avoid danger is to hide.
6. Males do most of the work
In an unusual case of reversed gender roles, the male jacana is the one who builds the nest and looks after the young.
Nests are made on floating plants too, and the female’s role is merely to drop a few eggs in it and then head off to look for another mate.
The male keeps the eggs safe, sometimes moving them if the location isn’t right, but instead of sitting on them, he holds them under his wings.
7. But their kids are born ready
Males have superior parenting skills, but it’s certainly a huge help that the young jacanas are born very well-equipped. Within a few hours of hatching, they can walk and swim, and so begin to forage immediately.
They’ll stick with their father for up to 70 days, during which time they’ll take shelter under his wings and puzzle wildlife photographers with their creepy dangling legs.
8. They’re polyandrous
This breeding strategy is very uncommon. Usually, it’s the males who have a harem, but with jacanas, the female is the one tasked with looking after the males she’s hooking up with. She will guard her partners from other females while they incubate her eggs and if the eggs are lost, she’ll produce another clutch for him.
In between, she’s off mating with as many males as she can get in her territory, which can be up to 3 acres in size. 3
9. They’re dying out in Madagascar
Only one jacana species is struggling as of now, the Madagascar Jacana, Actophilornis albinucha is on a steady and rapid decline due to habitat loss.
Agriculture, particularly rice paddies, as well as fishing and general drainage for human development, threaten this species and it’s now endangered. 4
Jacana Fact-File Summary
Scientific Classification
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Charadriiformes |
| Family: | Jacanidae |
Fact Sources & References
- “Jacana”, San Diego Zoo.
- “African Jacana”, Oiseaux Birds.
- Donald A. Jenni (1972), “Polyandry in the American Jaçana (Jacana spinosa)”, Oxford Academic.
- “Madagascar Jacana”, IUCN Red List.