Jacana

"For the Melbourne suburb, see Jacana, Victoria."

Taxobox
name = Jacanas

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image_width = 250px
image_caption = Comb-crested Jacana ("Irediparra gallinacea")
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Aves
ordo = Charadriiformes
familia = Jacanidae
familia_authority = Stejneger, 1885
subdivision_ranks = Genera
subdivision =
* "Microparra"
* "Actophilornis"
* "Irediparra"
* "Hydrophasianus"
* "Metopidius"
* "Jacana"The jacanas or jaçanas (sometimes referred to as Jesus birds) are a group of tropical waders in the family Jacanidae. They are found worldwide within the tropical zone. See Etymology below for proper pronunciation.

Biology

They are identifiable by their huge feet and claws which enable them to walk on floating vegetation in the shallow lakes that are their preferred habitat. They have sharp bills and rounded wings, and many species also have wattles on their foreheadscite book |editor=Forshaw, Joseph|author= Harrison, Colin J.O.|year=1991|title=Encyclopaedia of Animals: Birds|publisher= Merehurst Press|location=London|pages= 108|isbn= 1-85391-186-0] .

The females are larger than the males; the latter, as in some other wader families like the phalaropes take responsibility for incubation, and some species (notably the Northern Jacana) are polyandrous. However, adults of both sexes look identical, as with most shorebirds. They construct relatively flimsy nests on floating vegetation, and lay eggs with dark irregular lines on their shells, providing camouflage amongst water weeds.

Its diet consists of insects and other invertebrates picked from the floating vegetation or the water’s surface.

Most species are sedentary, but the Pheasant-tailed Jacana migrates from the north of its range into peninsular India and southeast Asia.

Etymology

"Jacana" is Linnæus' scientific Latin misspelling of the Brazilian Portuguese "jaçanã" (from a Tupi name of the bird), whose pronunciation is approximately [ža.sa.náN] . The best English-language representation of this might be "zhah-sah-NAH" or the more flowing "zhah-SAH-nah".

pecies

FAMILY: JACANIDAE
* Genus: "Microparra"
** Lesser Jacana - "Microparra capensis"
* Genus: "Actophilornis"
** African Jacana - "Actophilornis africana"
** Madagascar Jacana - "Actophilornis albinucha"
* Genus: "Irediparra"
** Comb-crested Jacana - "Irediparra gallinacea"
* Genus: "Hydrophasianus"
** Pheasant-tailed Jacana - "Hydrophasianus chirurgus"
* Genus: "Metopidius"
** Bronze-winged Jacana - "Metopidius indicus"
* Genus: "Jacana"
** Northern Jacana - "Jacana spinosa"
** Wattled Jacana - "Jacana jacana"

References

External links

* [http://ibc.hbw.com/ibc/phtml/familia.phtml?idFamilia=52 Jacana videos] on the Internet Bird Collection