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Bird name:

Northern Jacana

Jacana spinosa

Order

CHARADRIIFORMES

Family

Jacanas (Jacanidae)

Code 4

NOJA

Code 6

JACSPI

ITIS

176449

Breeding Location:

Marshes

Breeding Type:

Solitary nester, Polyandrous

Breeding Population:

Egg Color:

Brown with black streaks

Number of Eggs:

3 - 5

Incubation Days:

22 - 24

Egg Incubator:

Male

Nest Material:

Wet marsh vegetation

Migration:

Nonmigratory

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General

Northern Jacana: Rail-like relative of plovers and shorebirds; is unique in having extremely long toes. Body is chestnut-brown with black head and neck, and flashy yellow-green flight feathers. Forehead has a fleshy orange-yellow frontal shield arising from base of bill. Sexes are similar, but female is slightly larger. Juvenile is gray-brown above with black on back of neck and crown, and has all white underparts.

Range and Habitat

Northern Jacana: Found from south Texas to Panama. Found in marshes, flooded fields, and slow-moving waters.

Breeding and Nesting

Northern Jacana: Lays three to five brown eggs with black streaks in a nest made of floating marsh plants, built up just enough to keep the eggs from drowning. Male incubates eggs for 22 to 24 days, and then tends precocial young; female mates with several males each season.

Foraging and Feeding

Northern Jacana: Feeds almost exclusively on insects, but will occasionally take fish. Forages on top of floating vegetation, using its long toes for support while walking; moves rapidly and erratically while gleaning insects from vegetation.

Vocalization

Northern Jacana: Makes loud, harsh "jik" notes that may accelerate into chatter.

Similar Species

Northern Jacana: None in North America.

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Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.

Underparts

Belly, undertail coverts, chest, flanks, and foreneck.

Crown

The crown is the top part of the birds head.

Flight feathers

Located on the wing, and collectively called remiges (singular, remex). The long stiff feathers are subdivided into two major groups based on the location and are called primaries and secondaries.

Frontal shield

The area where the bill extends onto the forehead of the bird. It is often brightly colored and is meant to grab the attention of other birds.

4 and 6 letter alpha codes

The four letter common name alpha code is is derived from the first two letters of the common first name and the first two letters of common last name. The six letter species name alpha code is derived from the first three letters of the scientific name (genus) and the first three letters of the scientific name (species). See (1) below for the rules used to create the codes..

Four-letter (for English common names) and six-letter (for scientific names) species alpha codes were developed by Pyle and DeSante (2003, North American Bird-Bander 28:64-79) to reflect A.O.U. taxonomy and nomenclature (A.O.U. 1998) as modified by Supplements 42 (Auk 117:847-858, 2000) and 43 (Auk 119:897-906, 2002). The list has been updated by Pyle and DeSante to reflect changes reported by the A.O.U from 2003 through 2006.

Field Guide to Birds of North America