also ja·ca·na (-kə-)n.
Any of several tropical water birds of the family Jacanidae, having long toes adapted for walking on floating vegetation. Also called lily-trotter.
[Portuguese jaçanã, from Tupi jaçanam, jaçanã, one that cries out.]
jaçana
| Dictionary: ja·ça·na |
(zhä'sə-nä') also ja·ca·na (-kə-)
n.
Any of several tropical water birds of the family Jacanidae, having long toes adapted for walking on floating vegetation. Also called lily-trotter.
also ja·ca·na (-kə-)n.
Any of several tropical water birds of the family Jacanidae, having long toes adapted for walking on floating vegetation. Also called lily-trotter.
| 5min Related Video: jaçana |
| Columbia Encyclopedia: jaçana |
jaçana (jəkăn'ə, jəkän'ə), common name for members of the Jacanidae, a family of tropical and subtropical wading birds. Jaçanas, also called lily-trotters and lotus-birds, have long toes and toenails that enable them to walk delicately on floating vegetation as they search for insects and mollusks. Like certain of the related plovers, jaçanas have defensive spurs on the angles of their wings. The American jaçana (10 in./25 cm long), Jacana spinosa, is cinnamon red with striking yellow-green wing patches. The female jaçana is slightly larger than the male, but has similar coloration. It lays about 4 eggs per clutch, which is incubated by the male for three to four weeks. Jaçanas are excellent swimmers and divers and build their nests to float on water. They are classified in the phylum Chordata, subphylum Vertebrata, class Aves, order Charadriiformes, family Jacanidae.
| Wikipedia: Jacana |
For the Melbourne suburb, see Jacana, Victoria.
| Jacanas | |
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| Comb-crested Jacana (Irediparra gallinacea) | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Charadriiformes |
| Family: | Jacanidae Stejneger, 1885 |
| Genera | |
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The jacanas or jaçanas (sometimes referred to as Jesus birds or lily trotters) are a group of tropical waders in the family Jacanidae. They are found worldwide within the tropical zone. See Etymology below for pronunciation.
Contents |
Biology
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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 foreheads.[1]
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[1].
Their 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 spelling of the Brazilian Portuguese jaçanã, pronounced [ʒasaˈnã], from the Tupi name of the bird. Anglicized pronunciations include /ˈdʒækənə/ JAK-ə-nə in the UK,[2] and /dʒəˈkɑːnə/ jə-KAH-nə in the US and Australia.[3][4] American dictionaries also give pronunciations closer to the Portuguese: /ˌʒɑːsəˈnɑː/ zhah-sə-NAH and /ˌdʒɑːsəˈnɑː/ jah-sə-NAH.[5]
Species
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
- ^ a b Harrison, Colin J.O. (1991). Forshaw, Joseph. ed. Encyclopaedia of Animals: Birds. London: Merehurst Press. p. 108. ISBN 1-85391-186-0.
- ^ The New Shorter Oxford English Dictionary, Clarendon Press, 1993
- ^ jacana - definition from the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/jacana, retrieved 2009-08-13
- ^ The Macquarie Dictionary Online, Macquarie Dictionary Publishers Pty Ltd., 2009, http://www.macquariedictionary.com.au, retrieved 2009-08-13
- ^ American Heritage Dictionary (Fourth ed.), 2009, http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/jacana, retrieved 2009-08-13, dictionary.com Unabridged. Based on the Random House Dictionary, 2009, http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/jacana, retrieved 2009-08-13
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Jacanidae |
- Jacana videos on the Internet Bird Collection
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 | Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. Read more |
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| Columbia Encyclopedia. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright © 2003, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/. Read more |
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