Kenya most attractive bird

The African Jacana (Actophilornis africana). The jacanas are a group of waders in the family Jacanidae, which 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. These are conspicuous and unmistakable birds. They are 30cm long, their dramatic markings include dark, chestnut brown feathers at their wings, and yellow-orange breast feathers. 

The front of the neck is white and the back of the neck and head is glossy black. The bill is bluish-gray, the eyes are dark brown, and the legs and toes are long in relation to the bird’s body size. Eggs are brown in color, glossy, with black scribble-like markings. The African Jacana's feeds on insects, aquatic larvae, small crabs, snails, and seeds and other invertebrates picked from the floating vegetation or the water’s surface. It lays four black-marked brown eggs in a floating nest.

African Jacana prefers lagoons, stagnant pools, weed-fringed dams, swamps, and calm rivers, where there are lily pads and other types of floating vegetation. They are found throughout Zimbabwe, Mozambique, northern Namibia, northern Botswana, and eastern South Africa, Kenya and Tanzania.  African Jacanas are sociable birds, often gathering together near swamp-like habitats. African Jacanas are not known to be monogomous in their mating patterns. A mating pair can have up to 30 clutches of eggs each season, resulting from either the same partner or various partners. This species of birds are known as ‘lily walkers’ because their slender legs and toes give them the gracefulness to walk on the lily pads that blanket their wetlands. Due to their smaller size, males are more graceful ‘lily walkers’ than females. The female African Jacana lays several clutches of eggs between December and April, The clutches may be from a variety of mates or only one mate, depending on the circumstances.

The male African Jacana is the main caretaker of the offspring, incubating the eggs and carrying the baby chicks under his wings to keep them warm and dry until the chicks are approximately 18 days old. Snakes, otters, water mongooses and other birds are predators of the African Jacana’s eggs. Since African Jacana’s eggs and young chicks are often preyed upon, the survival of this species is largely dependent on the mother’s ability to lay several clutches of eggs in one season.  

These graceful birds are good divers and strong flyers. They squawk during flight and carry a pitch that resembles a loud, mournful, whining sound. Like most birds, the African Jacana has a keen sense of sight and hearing and relies little on its sense of smell.

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