jacana

The American jacana, or lily trotter, is a common waterbird of lagoons and marshes in Mexico and Central America. Jacanas have extremely long toes and claws for walking on floating vegetation.

Wading bird with very long toes and claws enabling it to walk on the floating leaves of water plants. There are seven species. Jacanas are found in Mexico, Central America, South America, Africa, South Asia, and Australia, usually in marshy areas. (Family Jacanidae, order Charadriiformes.)

The Australian jacana (Irediparra gallinacea) is so well adapted to life on water that the eggs are laid on floating vegetation and can themselves float.

The common jacana (Jacana spinosa), of Brazil, is black with green plumage on the wings and a warm-brown neck. The female pheasant-tailed jacana (Hydrophasianus chirurgus) of Asia has a ‘harem’ of two to four males.