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Birds of Zihuatanejo

CLASS AVES

-Animals (Kingdom Animalia)

-Chordates (Phylum Chordata)

-Vertebrates (Subphylum Vertebrata)

-Birds (Class Aves)

-Shorebirds and Allies (Order Charadriiformes)

-Jacanas (Family Jacanidae)

-New World Jacanas (Genus Jacana)

-Northern Jacana (Jacana spinosa)


The Northern Jacana inhabits shallow freshwater wetlands across tropical and subtropical regions from Mexico through Central America. It favours marshes, lagoons, ponds, and slow-moving backwaters thick with floating vegetation such as water lilies. Known for its exceptionally long toes and claws, the Northern Jacana can walk lightly across floating leaves. Its behaviour is unusual among birds: females are larger and maintain territories that may include several males, while males perform most of the incubation and chick-rearing duties (a polyandrous breeding system). The species is active and conspicuous, often giving sharp, repeated calls while patrolling vegetation. Its diet consists mainly of aquatic invertebrates—such as insects, spiders, snails, and small crustaceans—picked from plant surfaces or the water’s edge, though it may also consume seeds and other small plant material opportunistically.

Northern Jacana (Juvenile)

Jacana spinosa

Diet

  • Primarily aquatic insects, insect larvae, spiders, snails, small crustaceans, worms, and other aquatic invertebrates.

  • Also feeds on small fish, tadpoles, seeds, and aquatic plant material.

  • Forages by walking across floating vegetation, using its exceptionally long toes and claws to distribute its weight without sinking.

Range

  • Found from western Mexico through Central America, the Caribbean, and into northwestern South America.

  • Widespread in Mexico, including the Zihuatanejo region, where it is a common year-round resident.

  • Inhabits freshwater marshes, ponds, lakes, lagoons, swamps, flooded fields, and slow-moving rivers with abundant floating vegetation such as water lilies and water hyacinths.

  • Generally remains close to wetlands throughout the year.

Male / Female

  • Male: Chestnut body with a black head, neck, and breast, bright yellow bill and frontal shield, and very long yellowish legs and toes. Considerably smaller than the female.

  • Female: Nearly identical in plumage but 25–40% larger and heavier than the male.

  • The species exhibits reversed sexual size dimorphism, with females defending territories that may contain several males. Males perform most of the incubation and chick-rearing.

  • Sexes are best distinguished by size, not plumage.

Size

  • Length: 22–28 cm (8.7–11.0 in)

  • Wingspan: 38–45 cm (15–18 in)

  • Weight:

    • Male: 86–135 g

    • Female: 145–280 g

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