A black and brown bird (length 20 cm), with yellow markings on
its wings. These are easily visible when the bird flies or when
it raises its wings. It has a yellow bill and red wattles on its
head (not nearly as big as the turkey's). The young have some
white on their belly and a stripe on both sides of their head
(near the eyes). Their toes are very long, like those of the
adult birds, and they have the same yellow markings on their
wings.
Jacanas walk over plants in the marshes, that is where they need
such big toes for. You can see them also in ricefields and in
irrigation canals, especially when these are filled up with
plants like water hyacinth. On these floating plants they make
their nests from some stalks. You can find them living very close
to houses.
Not only their coloration makes them conspicious, they make a lot
of noise too, especially when they fight. Then they raise their
wings, so the yellow in it is clearly visible. On their wings
they have a sharp thorn and they use them in these fights. Real
fighting cocks.
You will not often see them flying. When they are driven out of
the water, they will fly with their long legs hanging under them,
screaming all the time. At night they sometimes fly over
Paramaribo.
Pictures by Erik Toorman in Suriname (top), then follows a photo
taken in the Cultuurtuin by K. Dijkstra and one by Dennis Binda
(2008). The ones below this text were taken, the first one by
Carla Out in Suriname then three by J.H. Ribot, of a bird on its
nest and of the nest itself with three eggs (Emmen Zoo) and of a
bird with young.
Each small square indicates the observation of at least one (group) of these birds, the medium ones at least 4 observations on different days and the largest ones 10 or more. The color of each square indicates: blue for coastal area, yellow for savanna and red for rainforest. In marshy places loose groups of 50 or more birds can be met. Sometimes they can be heard flying over at night.
| Distribution in Suriname (see explanation) | |
| Coastal area |  |
| Savanna |  |
| Forests |  |
| Mountain forests |  |
| Sipalawini savanna | |
Names in
More pictures of birds from Suriname, part 3
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