- Jacana spinosa
Identification
17–23 cm (6¾-9 in); females are larger than the males
- Black Head, neck, upper breast and upper mantle
- Chestnut back and wing-coverts
- Blackbelly
- Greenish-yellow flight feathers
- Yellow frontal plate, bill, legs and very long toes
Juveniles
- White underparts
- Brown upperparts
- White head with a brown crown and eye stripe
Similar species
Distribution
Southern 3/4 of Mexico
Central America from Belize and Guatemala to western Panama, and Cuba, Hispaniola and Jamaica in the West Indies (vagrant to Puerto Rico).
Taxonomy
Subspecies
There are 3 subspecies1:
- J. s. gymnostoma:
- North Mexico to Chiapas, Yucatán Peninsula and Cozumel Island
- J. s. spinosa :
- J. s. violacea:
- Cuba, Isle of Pines, Jamaica and Hispaniola
Habitat
Shallow wetlands (permanent or seasonally flooded) with floating vegetation. .
Behaviour
The wings are often raised when walking on the ground or over floating vegetation.
Breeding
Polyandrous; the females defend 1–4 (usually 2) adjacent males and their territories. They construct a floating nest. The clutch consists of 4 black-marked brown eggs which are incubated by the male.
Diet
Their diet consists almost entirely of insects and other invertebrates, with addition of some plant material and seeds picked from the floating vegetation or the water's surface.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2017. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2017, with updates to August 2017. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved Dec 2017)
- Wikipedia
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Northern Jacana. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 24 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Northern_Jacana
