African Jacana, The Bird that Carries Its Young

The African Jacana is a species of long-legged bird, capable of walking on the floating vegetation that constitutes its habitat.

Additionally, it is an adept diver, capable of swimming in open waters to find food. The primary diet of the African Jacana includes freshwater insects, larvae, spiders, crustaceans, and mollusks.

This lifestyle facilitates food acquisition and enhances the African Jacana’s chances of survival. The overall length of the African Jacana ranges from 23 to 31 cm, or 9.1 to 12.2 inches.

The average weight of females is greater than that of males. Males weigh between 115 and 224 g with an average of 137 g, while females weigh between 167 and 290 g, with an average of 261 g.

Contents

1 The Male Assumes Full Responsibility for Parenting, While the Female is Ruthless in Her Territory
2 Living Colonially and Alerting Each Other to Threats
3 Floating Nests Above Water or Blending with the Environment

The Male Assumes Full Responsibility for Parenting, While the Female is Ruthless in Her Territory

Unlike common bird behavior, the female’s sole responsibility is laying eggs. While incubating for 22–28 days, nurturing, teaching the chicks to walk, swim, and dive are exclusive tasks of the male.

The tiny offspring of this Jacanidae family bird will stay with the father for about 40–70 days, or until they can fend for themselves.

Females that have laid eggs previously will leave and seek another male for a subsequent mating, and the cycle continues.

This breeding process contributes to the global safety of Jacana populations. Population stability is further supported by the territorial behavior of females.

To secure their territories, females kill any Jacana chicks not their own.

In times of threat or when migrating chicks from the nest, the male carries the chicks by clasping them under his wings.

During this carrying, only their legs are visible from the outside. Hence, when carrying their chicks, the Jacana appears to have many legs.

Living Colonially and Alerting Each Other to Threats

This bird, which enjoys carrying its offspring, lives colonially and communicates loudly as a signal of potential threats.

With a lifespan of approximately 5–10 years, this bird reaches sexual maturity at one year and continues to reproduce throughout the year.

This bird species is distributed in the sub-Saharan African region, including countries such as Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, and South Africa.

Unlike typical birds, they can only fly short distances from one floating leaf to another.

In dangerous conditions, to avoid threats, they prefer diving into the water or keeping their heads above the surface to assess the situation and breathe.

Apart from swimming, lifting their wings to intimidate predators is one of the African Jacana’s methods of self-defense.

The primary threats to this bird, also known as the ‘Jesus Bird’ are turtles, otters, crocodiles, snakes, and predatory birds.

Floating Nests Above Water or Blending with the Environment

In addition to being skilled swimmers and walkers on water, the African Jacana is known for its ability to create floating nests above the water’s surface, especially on aquatic plants or dense vegetation.

This provides additional protection against land predators. Their nests are usually made of carefully arranged twigs and leaves from aquatic plants.

Creating a sturdy platform to support their eggs and potentially large offspring.

Some African Jacana species, such as the West African Jacana (Actophilornis Africana), have the ability to camouflage their nests by shifting or adding new materials to blend with their surroundings.

They tend to create nests that seamlessly integrate with the surrounding environment, making it indistinguishable between the nest and the environment.

Nevertheless, they construct nests secure enough to care for their eggs and maintain the population.