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African jacana

January 01, 1970

The African jacana (Actophilornis africanus) is a wader in the family Jacanidae. It has long toes and long claws that enables it to walk on floating vegetation in shallow lakes, its preferred habitat. It is widely distributed in sub-Saharan Africa. For the origin and pronunciation of the name, see Jacanidae.

African jacana
Lake Baringo, Kenya
Scientific classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Charadriiformes
Family: Jacanidae
Genus: Actophilornis
Species:
A. africanus
Binomial name
Actophilornis africanus
(Gmelin, JF, 1789)

Taxonomy edit

The African jacanas was formally described in 1789 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's Systema Naturae. He placed it in the genus Parra and coined the binomial name Parra africana.[2] Gmelin based his description on that by the English ornithologist John Latham who in 1785 had described and illustrated the species in his A General Synopsis of Birds.[3] Gmelin and Latham gave the locality as "Africa": this was restricted to Ethiopia in 1915.[4][5] The African jacana is now placed in the genus Actophilornis that was introduced in 1925 by the American ornithologist Harry C. Oberholser.[6][7] The genus name combines the Ancient Greek aktē meaning "river bank" or "coastal strand", -philos meaning "-loving" and ornis meaning "bird".[8] The species is considered to be monotypic: no subspecies are recognised.[7]

Description edit

The African jacanas is a conspicuous and unmistakable bird. It measures 23 to 31 cm (9.1 to 12.2 in) in overall length. As in other jacanas, the female is on average larger than the male. Males can weigh from 115 to 224 g (4.1 to 7.9 oz), averaging 137 g (4.8 oz) and females from 167 to 290 g (5.9 to 10.2 oz), averaging 261 g (9.2 oz). Alongside the similarly-sized Madagascar jacana, this appears to be the heaviest jacana species.[9][10] They have chestnut upperparts with black wingtips, rear neck, and eyestripe. The underparts are also chestnut in the adults, only in juveniles they are white with a chestnut belly patch. The blue bill extends up as a coot-like head shield, and the legs and long toes are grey.

Behaviour edit

Food and feeding edit

African jacanas feed on insects and other invertebrates picked from the floating vegetations or the surface of the water.[11]

Breeding edit

African jacanas breed throughout sub-Saharan Africa. It is sedentary apart from seasonal dispersion. It lays four black-marked brown eggs in a floating nest.

The jacana has evolved a highly unusually polyandrous mating system, meaning that one female mates with multiple males and the male alone cares for the chicks. Such a system has evolved due to a combination of two factors: firstly, the lakes that the jacana lives on are so resource-rich that the relative energy expended by the female in producing each egg is effectively negligible. Secondly the jacana, as a bird, lays eggs, and eggs can be equally well incubated and cared for by a parent bird of either sex. This means that the rate-limiting factor of the jacana's breeding is the rate at which the males can raise and care for the chicks. Such a system of females forming harems of males is in direct contrast to the more usual system of leks seen in animals such as stags and grouse, where the males compete and display in order to gain harems of females.

The parent that forms part of the harem is almost always the one that ends up caring for the offspring; in this case, each male jacana incubates and rears a nest of chicks. The male African jacana has therefore evolved some remarkable adaptations for parental care, such as the ability to pick up and carry chicks underneath its wings.

References edit

  1. ^ BirdLife International (2016). "Actophilornis africanus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016: e.T22693528A93410506. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22693528A93410506.en. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  2. ^ Gmelin, Johann Friedrich (1789). Systema naturae per regna tria naturae : secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis (in Latin). Vol. 1, Part 2 (13th ed.). Lipsiae [Leipzig]: Georg. Emanuel. Beer. p. 709.
  3. ^ Latham, John (1785). A General Synopsis of Birds. Vol. 3, Part 1. London: Printed for Leigh and Sotheby. p. 246 No. 7; Plate 87.
  4. ^ Grant, C.H.B. (1915). "On a collection of birds from British East Africa and Uganda, presented to the British Museum by Capt. G.S. Cozens. – Part 1". Ibis. 10th. 3 (1): 1–76 [59]. doi:10.1111/j.1474-919X.1915.tb08178.x.
  5. ^ Peters, James Lee, ed. (1934). Check-List of Birds of the World. Vol. 2. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. p. 226.
  6. ^ Oberholser, Harry C. (1925). "A new name for the genus Actophilus Oberholser". Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington. 38: 90.
  7. ^ a b Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (August 2022). "Buttonquail, thick-knees, sheathbills, plovers, oystercatchers, stilts, painted-snipes, jacanas, Plains-wanderer, seedsnipes". IOC World Bird List Version 12.2. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 2 November 2022.
  8. ^ Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 31. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
  9. ^ Jenni, D. A. and G. M. Kirwan (2020). African Jacana (Actophilornis africanus), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA.
  10. ^ Dunning, John B. Jr., ed. (2008). CRC Handbook of Avian Body Masses (2nd ed.). CRC Press. ISBN 978-1-4200-6444-5.
  11. ^ Jenni, D.A. (1996). "Family Jacanidae (Jacanas)". In del Hoyo, J.; Elliott, A.; Sargatal, J. (eds.). Handbook of the Birds of the World. Vol. 3: Hoatzin to Auks. Barcelona, Spain: Lynx Edicions. pp. 276–291 [289]. ISBN 978-84-87334-20-7.

External links edit

  • African jacana - Species text in The Atlas of Southern African Birds

January 01, 1970
african, jacana, actophilornis, africanus, wader, family, jacanidae, long, toes, long, claws, that, enables, walk, floating, vegetation, shallow, lakes, preferred, habitat, widely, distributed, saharan, africa, origin, pronunciation, name, jacanidae, lake, bar. The African jacana Actophilornis africanus is a wader in the family Jacanidae It has long toes and long claws that enables it to walk on floating vegetation in shallow lakes its preferred habitat It is widely distributed in sub Saharan Africa For the origin and pronunciation of the name see Jacanidae African jacana Lake Baringo Kenya Conservation status Least Concern IUCN 3 1 1 Scientific classification Domain Eukaryota Kingdom Animalia Phylum Chordata Class Aves Order Charadriiformes Family Jacanidae Genus Actophilornis Species A africanus Binomial name Actophilornis africanus Gmelin JF 1789 Contents 1 Taxonomy 2 Description 3 Behaviour 3 1 Food and feeding 3 2 Breeding 4 References 5 External linksTaxonomy editThe African jacanas was formally described in 1789 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus s Systema Naturae He placed it in the genus Parra and coined the binomial name Parra africana 2 Gmelin based his description on that by the English ornithologist John Latham who in 1785 had described and illustrated the species in his A General Synopsis of Birds 3 Gmelin and Latham gave the locality as Africa this was restricted to Ethiopia in 1915 4 5 The African jacana is now placed in the genus Actophilornis that was introduced in 1925 by the American ornithologist Harry C Oberholser 6 7 The genus name combines the Ancient Greek akte meaning river bank or coastal strand philos meaning loving and ornis meaning bird 8 The species is considered to be monotypic no subspecies are recognised 7 Description editThe African jacanas is a conspicuous and unmistakable bird It measures 23 to 31 cm 9 1 to 12 2 in in overall length As in other jacanas the female is on average larger than the male Males can weigh from 115 to 224 g 4 1 to 7 9 oz averaging 137 g 4 8 oz and females from 167 to 290 g 5 9 to 10 2 oz averaging 261 g 9 2 oz Alongside the similarly sized Madagascar jacana this appears to be the heaviest jacana species 9 10 They have chestnut upperparts with black wingtips rear neck and eyestripe The underparts are also chestnut in the adults only in juveniles they are white with a chestnut belly patch The blue bill extends up as a coot like head shield and the legs and long toes are grey Behaviour editFood and feeding edit African jacanas feed on insects and other invertebrates picked from the floating vegetations or the surface of the water 11 Breeding edit African jacanas breed throughout sub Saharan Africa It is sedentary apart from seasonal dispersion It lays four black marked brown eggs in a floating nest The jacana has evolved a highly unusually polyandrous mating system meaning that one female mates with multiple males and the male alone cares for the chicks Such a system has evolved due to a combination of two factors firstly the lakes that the jacana lives on are so resource rich that the relative energy expended by the female in producing each egg is effectively negligible Secondly the jacana as a bird lays eggs and eggs can be equally well incubated and cared for by a parent bird of either sex This means that the rate limiting factor of the jacana s breeding is the rate at which the males can raise and care for the chicks Such a system of females forming harems of males is in direct contrast to the more usual system of leks seen in animals such as stags and grouse where the males compete and display in order to gain harems of females The parent that forms part of the harem is almost always the one that ends up caring for the offspring in this case each male jacana incubates and rears a nest of chicks The male African jacana has therefore evolved some remarkable adaptations for parental care such as the ability to pick up and carry chicks underneath its wings nbsp Adult Okavango delta Botswana nbsp Chick at Kakegawa Shizuoka Japan nbsp Juvenile Lake Baringo Kenya nbsp Actophilornis africanus MHNTReferences edit BirdLife International 2016 Actophilornis africanus IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016 e T22693528A93410506 doi 10 2305 IUCN UK 2016 3 RLTS T22693528A93410506 en Retrieved 12 November 2021 Gmelin Johann Friedrich 1789 Systema naturae per regna tria naturae secundum classes ordines genera species cum characteribus differentiis synonymis locis in Latin Vol 1 Part 2 13th ed Lipsiae Leipzig Georg Emanuel Beer p 709 Latham John 1785 A General Synopsis of Birds Vol 3 Part 1 London Printed for Leigh and Sotheby p 246 No 7 Plate 87 Grant C H B 1915 On a collection of birds from British East Africa and Uganda presented to the British Museum by Capt G S Cozens Part 1 Ibis 10th 3 1 1 76 59 doi 10 1111 j 1474 919X 1915 tb08178 x Peters James Lee ed 1934 Check List of Birds of the World Vol 2 Cambridge Massachusetts Harvard University Press p 226 Oberholser Harry C 1925 A new name for the genus Actophilus Oberholser Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington 38 90 a b Gill Frank Donsker David Rasmussen Pamela eds August 2022 Buttonquail thick knees sheathbills plovers oystercatchers stilts painted snipes jacanas Plains wanderer seedsnipes IOC World Bird List Version 12 2 International Ornithologists Union Retrieved 2 November 2022 Jobling James A 2010 The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names London Christopher Helm p 31 ISBN 978 1 4081 2501 4 Jenni D A and G M Kirwan 2020 African Jacana Actophilornis africanus version 1 0 In Birds of the World J del Hoyo A Elliott J Sargatal D A Christie and E de Juana Editors Cornell Lab of Ornithology Ithaca NY USA Dunning John B Jr ed 2008 CRC Handbook of Avian Body Masses 2nd ed CRC Press ISBN 978 1 4200 6444 5 Jenni D A 1996 Family Jacanidae Jacanas In del Hoyo J Elliott A Sargatal J eds Handbook of the Birds of the World Vol 3 Hoatzin to Auks Barcelona Spain Lynx Edicions pp 276 291 289 ISBN 978 84 87334 20 7 External links editAfrican jacana Species text in The Atlas of Southern African Birds Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title African jacana amp oldid 1210806562, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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