African Jacana
Encyclopedia
The African Jacana is a jacana
. The jacanas are a group of wader
s in the family Jacanidae, which are identifiable by their huge feet and claws which enable them to walk on floating vegetation in the shallow lakes that are their preferred habitat. They are found worldwide within the tropical zone.
s. They are 30cm long,but the females are larger than the males. They have chestnut upperparts with black wingtips,rear neck and eyestripe. The underparts are white,with a chestnut belly patch in adult birds. The blue bill extends up as a coot
-like head shield,and the legs and very long toes are grey.
s and other invertebrates picked from the floating vegetation or the water’s surface.
n Africa
. It is sedentary apart from seasonal dispersion. It lays four black-marked brown eggs in a floating nest. It is a polyandrous species, which means that one female mates with multiple males and the male alone cares for the chicks. The male African Jacana has the ability to pick up and carry his chicks underneath his wings as well, a remarkable adaptation for parental care.
Jacana
The jaçanas are a group of tropical waders in the family Jacanidae. They are found worldwide within the tropical zone. See Etymology below for pronunciation....
. The jacanas are a group of wader
Wader
Waders, called shorebirds in North America , are members of the order Charadriiformes, excluding the more marine web-footed seabird groups. The latter are the skuas , gulls , terns , skimmers , and auks...
s in the family Jacanidae, which are identifiable by their huge feet and claws which enable them to walk on floating vegetation in the shallow lakes that are their preferred habitat. They are found worldwide within the tropical zone.
Description
These are conspicuous and unmistakable birdBird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...
s. They are 30cm long,but the females are larger than the males. They have chestnut upperparts with black wingtips,rear neck and eyestripe. The underparts are white,with a chestnut belly patch in adult birds. The blue bill extends up as a coot
Coot
Coots are medium-sized water birds that are members of the rail family Rallidae. They constitute the genus Fulica. Coots have predominantly black plumage, and, unlike many of the rails, they are usually easy to see, often swimming in open water...
-like head shield,and the legs and very long toes are grey.
Food and feeding
The African Jacana's food is insectInsect
Insects are a class of living creatures within the arthropods that have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body , three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes, and two antennae...
s and other invertebrates picked from the floating vegetation or the water’s surface.
Breeding
The African Jacana breeds throughout sub-SaharaSahara
The Sahara is the world's second largest desert, after Antarctica. At over , it covers most of Northern Africa, making it almost as large as Europe or the United States. The Sahara stretches from the Red Sea, including parts of the Mediterranean coasts, to the outskirts of the Atlantic Ocean...
n Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
. It is sedentary apart from seasonal dispersion. It lays four black-marked brown eggs in a floating nest. It is a polyandrous species, which means that one female mates with multiple males and the male alone cares for the chicks. The male African Jacana has the ability to pick up and carry his chicks underneath his wings as well, a remarkable adaptation for parental care.