FAMILY JACANIDAE

• ​Animals (Kingdom Animalia)

• Chordates (Phylum Chordata)

• Vertebrates (Subphylum Vertebrata)

• Birds (Class Aves)

• Shorebirds and Allies (Order Charadriiformes)​

• Jacanas (Family Jacanidae)

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Family Jacanidae comprises the jacanas, a group of distinctive tropical wading birds found in freshwater wetlands, marshes, ponds, and lakes across the Americas, Africa, Asia, and Australia. Jacanas are best known for their extraordinarily long toes and claws, which distribute their weight and allow them to walk across floating vegetation such as water lilies, earning them the nickname “lily-trotters.” They feed primarily on insects, spiders, small crustaceans, seeds, and other invertebrates gathered from the surface of aquatic plants. Most species are brightly marked and exhibit striking plumage, such as the Northern Jacana.

JACANAS - SPECIES