Northern Jacana - BirdForum Opus

Jacana spinosa

Adult. Photo by Reini
Location: Costa Rica

Identification

17–23cm, females are larger than the males. Chestnut back and wing coverts, black body, green yellow flight feathers, yellow bill, legs and very long toes. Juveniles have strikingly different plumage, with white underparts and brown uppers. The head is white with a brown crown and eye stripe. Only the large feet and the bill are good indicators that this is the same species. The wings are often raised when on the ground or floating vegetation, showing bright translucent greenish-yellow flight feathers.

Distribution

Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, Panama, and the West Indies.

Taxonomy

Subspecies¹

• J. s. gymnostoma - N Mexico to Chiapas, Yucatán Peninsula and Cozumel I.
• J. s. spinosa - Belize and Guatemala to w Panama
• J. s. violacea - Cuba, Isle of Pines, Jamaica and Hispaniola

Juvenile. Photo by Gary Clark
Location: Turrialba, Costa Rica.

Habitat

Shallow lakes.

Behaviour

4 black-marked brown eggs are laid in a floating nest and are incubated by the male. The females are polyandrous, and will help to defend the nests of up to four mates.

Diet includes insects, other invertebrates and seeds picked from the floating vegetation or the water's surface.

References

1. Clements, James F. 2007. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to October 2008. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. ISBN 9780801445019

External Links

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