Wattled Jacana
Jacana jacana
About This Species
This jacana uses its extraordinarily long toes to walk across lily pads and floating vegetation in marshes and pond edges throughout Central and South America, a habit that makes it unmistakable once seen. Adults show bright red facial wattles and yellow flight feathers that flash in flight, and birds are present and breeding in suitable wetlands year-round. Scanning the edges of ponds, marshes and slow rivers with floating vegetation is the most reliable way to find it.
Ethical Viewing Guidelines
- Keep well back from any bird tending a nest or chicks, since jacana nests are simple floating platforms that are easily flooded or exposed if the parent is flushed.
- Wetland bird protections vary across its many range countries, so it is worth checking local rules rather than assuming a single standard applies.
- Viewing from a fixed point on the shore, rather than wading into the marsh itself, avoids damaging the floating vegetation the species depends on.
LCAvesCharadriiformesJacanidae
Seasonal Activity
313,566 sightings · 2000–2026
Citizen science records via GBIF
All monthsThis month
Classification
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Charadriiformes
- Family
- Jacanidae
Photo
Wikimedia Commons / Wikimedia Commons
CC-BY-SA-4.0
Occurrence data from GBIF.