by Amy Fletcher

Created on: November 26, 2009   Last Updated: November 27, 2009

The Lotus Bird

The Lotus or Jacanas bird belong to a group of tropical marsh waders, and can be found worldwide in wet, tropical wetlands. They are also known as Lily Trotters, and Jesus birds. They belong to the family Jacanidae. They can be found inhabiting freshwater ponds, the margins of lakes, swamps and lagoons. There are eight species in this genre. These eight species are placed in six genera, and are found in both the New and the Old World tropics. There are 2 species in the Americas; 3 species in Africa and 3 species in the Far East down to Australia with 9 subspecies in Central America and 3 subspecies in Australia.

They walk on floating vegetation with their long legs and claws. That is how they got the nickname Jesus bird. Their long legs and claws set them apart from other types of birds. On there leg can be found very sharp spur that is used for defensive fighting. These toes are 20 cm long, making them These birds are 17-23 cm long. There backs are chestnut and the main body is mostly black. They make their own noise, a rattling noise.

The males incubate the eggs and are generally smaller than the females. Their nests are not made strong, they are flimsy and are built on the floating vegetation. The eggs are mainly brown and have dark stripes that help to hide them among the weeds. They generally have four eggs in a nest at time. The eggs take 22-28 days to incubate. Males take responsibility for the chicks and the chicks are dependent on the males for 3-4 months. These birds are black and reddish in color. The females do not settle down with one mate, making them polyandrous. They will help to defend the nests of up to four mates. The females will mate with a male, wait a week and then mate with another male.

They eat small bugs and invertebrates or mollusks that they find floating on the water and on the lily pads and other floating vegetation, and seeds from plants that grow along the waters edge. They are not very active birds, actually they are rather sedentary. Due to their very long toes and claws they are rarely seen on land. They are better suited for the water.

References:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacana

http://www.avianweb.com/jacanas.html

http://www.avianweb.com/northernjacana.html

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