- Jacana jacana
Identification
17-23cm, females are larger than the males
- Chestnut back and wing coverts
- Rest of the body mainly black
- Greeny-yellow flight feathers
- Yellow bill
- Red frontal shield
- Reddish wattle
- Dull blue grey legs
- Very long toes
- Long sharp spur on the bend of the wing.
Young birds have entirely white underparts.
Distribution
Central and South America
Central America: found in Costa Rica, Panama, Trinidad and Netherlands Antilles
South America: occurs in Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Argentina
Taxonomy
Subspecies
There are 6 subspecies[1]:
- J. j. hypomelaena :
- J. j. melanopygia:
- Western Colombia to western Venezuela
- J. j. jacana:
- J. j. intermedia:
- North and central Venezuela
- J. j. scapularis:
- J. j. peruviana:
- North-eastern Peru (lower Río Ucayalí) and adjacent north-western Brazil
Habitat
Floating vegetation in marshes and lagoons. Vegetated canals and wet pastures
Behaviour
Breeding
The clutch consists of 4 brown eggs with black marks which are laid in a floating nest. The eggs are incubated by the male holding them between the breast and wing.
Diet
They use their long toes to walk across the floating vegetation, picking up seeds, insects and other invertebrates.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, B.L. Sullivan, C. L. Wood, and D. Roberson. 2013. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: Version 6.8., with updates to August 2013. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- BF Member observations
- Wikipedia
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Wattled Jacana. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 14 May 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Wattled_Jacana
External Links
GSearch checked for 2020 platform.1
