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Today on Animal Fact Files we’re discussing jacanas. The pronunciation of this common name is debated. It’s originally from a Portuguese word that was derived from the Tupi word for this bird – the Tupi people were one of the largest groups of indigenous peoples in Brazil before its colonization. The name should be pronounced something like “zhah-sin-NUH” or “zhah-sin-NU” or “zhass-uh-NUH” though I don’t know the language, so I’m probably getting something wrong here. Some folks say JACK-uh-nuh or ha-sin-NUH. We don’t get too concerned about common names around here, but for clarity’s sake we’re talking about this (popping sound) family of birds. They’re also known as lily trotters, so we’ll use this name moving forward just to keep things simple and civil.

These birds get the name “lily trotter” because they walk, or trot, on floating aquatic vegetation, such as lily pads. This gives them the appearance of walking on water, although it’s worth noting this is not the case. Still, they get the name Jesus birds for the resemblance! Lily trotters can walk on plants due to their giant feet. These birds have some of the largest feet of all living birds when compared to their body size. Just look at those stompers! Similar to the flaps on a sailfin lizard’s toes, it gives the birds more surface area to spread their weight across the aquatic foliage and stay above the water’s surface.

Lily trotters don't often fly, but they’re excellent swimmers! Even the babies can dive within their first day of life. These birds live in wetland habitats in tropics around the world. There are eight recognized species ranging in size from half a foot to two feet (15 to 61 cm) in length. That’s including their tail feathers which only occur this dramatically long in one species; the rest have relatively short tails. Many species also sport fleshy head gear and wing spurs which they can use like sharp claws!

For many birds, males are larger than females and sport colorful feathers to attract the ladies, however, this is reversed in lily trotters. Instead, female lily trotters are larger than males and the ladies put on displays to woo the males. In fact, these girls get busy and often have more than one partner per breeding season! The male lily trotter constructs potential nest sites and the female selects her favorite, sometimes even opting for a whole new nest altogether. She’ll lay her eggs and leave them for the male to incubate. There are about four eggs laid per nest and the chicks inside the eggs may not even be the male’s own offspring! See, female lily trotters mate multiple times, so the eggs any given male is incubating may have been fertilized by him or any of the other partners the female has had! This doesn’t matter to these devotional dads, though, because they know somewhere another male is taking care of his offspring, so it all evens out in the end. 

Lily trotters are committed parents. The female uses her large size and slashing claws to defend her territory and fend off predators. The ladies fight over territory and, if a mother loses, the new owner of the area goes in and removes all the previous offspring, much like male lions taking over a new pride. So the mom’s have more than their own lives at stake when they defend from rivals. The male teaches the babies, who hatch after an almost month long incubation period, how to forage and hide. If a predator draws too near, the male fakes a broken wing to distract the threat and give the babies a chance to run away safely. The chicks have small holes at the end of their beak they can use as a snorkel to breathe through while they’re underwater. Using this, only the tip of their bill pokes out, keeping their body concealed in the vegetation below the water’s surface. Adults sometimes use this tactic as well when they go through their annual feather molt and are unable to fly!

These birds most frequently mate during the wet season. Outside of this, lily trotters form flocks in which adults are far less territorial. There may be upwards of hundreds of individuals in a single location depending on the species and habitat, though smaller flocks of a handful of individuals are also observed. Most lily trotters don't survive to adulthood. Anywhere from 50 to 90% of eggs are taken by predators like snakes, turtles, crocodiles, and more. Even after hatching it's a 50/50 shot if they'll see they're first birthday which is about how long it takes for the juveniles to grow in their adult plumage. As adults, these birds somewhat resemble rails but are currently believed to be most closely related to birds like snipes, plovers, and sandpipers.

Lily trotters spend most of their day foraging for insects they glean from the vegetation’s surface, sometimes flipping over lily pads to find a meal. They’re also known to eat small fish and take seeds from plants by running their bill over seed pods like a comb. These birds are sometimes seen in relation with other animals such as capybaras and hippos from which they remove parasites like ticks and other invertebrates. Lily trotters are also described as noisy! Here’s an example of how they sound.

For more facts on lily trotters, check out the links below. Give a thumbs up if you learned something new today. Thank you to our Patrons SpikeSpiegel93, Dad, and everyone else for their support of this channel! And thank you for watching Animal Fact Files!