From Opus

Photo by CollinBax
Lowersabie, Kruger National Park, South Africa, August 2008

Actophilornis africanus

Actophilornis africana

[edit] Identification

Length 25-30 cm, mass 115-274 g
Adult:

• Chestnut upperparts with black wingtips, rear neck and eyestripe
• White underparts
• Chestnut belly patcha
• Blue bill extends up as a coot-like head shield
• Legs and very long toes are grey
• Eyes are dark brown
  

Sexes alike but the females are larger than males

[edit] Similar Species

Immature: is similar to adult Lesser Jacana, but much bigger; above light brown (dark brown in adult Lesser Jacana), below white; breast washed golden (no gold in adult Lesser Jacana); flanks brown; frontal shield small (not visible in field); crown and hind neck blackish brown (crown rufous in adult Lesser Jacana); black line through eye; buff eyebrow (eyebrow of adult Lesser Jacana white, forehead buff).

Juvenile
Photo by JohnathanAKR
Kruger National Park, South Africa, August 2007

[edit] Distribution

Widespread thoughout sub-Saharan Africa
Western Africa: Mauritania, Senegambia, Senegal, The Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Mali, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Nigeria, Niger, Chad, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Congo and Angola
Eastern Africa: Sudan, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Somalia, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, Zanzibar, Zambia, Mozambique and Malawi
Southern Africa: Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, South Africa, KwaZulu-Natal, Lesotho and Swaziland
African Islands: Saint Helena and Madagascar

[edit] Taxonomy

This is a monotypic species^[1].

[edit] Habitat

Lagoons, lakes, pans, river backwaters; usually with fringing vegetation and floating water lilies, Polygonum and other water plants.

[edit] Behaviour

The Jacanas are a group of waders in the order Charadriiformes. Their huge feet and claws enable them to walk on floating vegetation in the shallow lakes that are their preferred habitat.

[edit] Breeding

It is sedentary apart from seasonal dispersion. It lays four black-marked brown eggs in a floating nest. The males, as in some other wader families like the phalaropes, take responsibility for incubation.

[edit] References

1. Clements, JF. 2011. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to August 2011. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019. Spreadsheet available at http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/downloadable-clements-checklist
2. Avibase
3. Animal Pictures Archive

• List of references

[edit] External Links