In April this year, Helen and I joined CNP Safaris on their photographic boat on the Chobe river. This has become a tradition which we have done since 2009. The Chobe river has a wonderful diversity of wildlife, both mammals, reptiles and birds. Photographing wildlife from a boat specially equipped for photography offers a unique shooting perspective. The wildlife is less intimidated by a nearby boat in the river than it is from a nearby safari vehicle on land.

Over the years, the guides and boatmen on the photographic boat have learnt to cope with the persistent water current and know where to find particular wildlife at particular times of the year. Jacana ally is one such understanding. Jacanas can breed all year round due to the permanent water but most of the breeding seems to occur between April and June of each year when the water level in the Chobe river is rising to peak around June/July.

“Fresh air is as good for the mind as for the body. Nature always seems trying to talk to us as if she had some great secret to tell. And so she has.” ~ John Lubbock

Jacana ally is an inlet at the east end of the Sedudu island just upriver from the iconic three Jackalberry trees and upriver from Kasane on the northern Botswana border. The tall reeds around the inlet provide protection from the westerly winds and is home to rafts of waterlilies and pondweed. This protected inlet is preferred by the breeding African Jacanas.

The African jacana is one of two jacana species found in Africa, the other is the Lesser jacana, which is much less common but can be seen on the waterlily and reed beds along the Chobe river. A week old African jacana chick must weigh only a few grams and is probably just 60mm in height. The chicks are minute bundles of fluff with two disproportionately large grey legs and feet.

“Always be on the lookout for the presence of wonder.” ~E.B.White

The chicks hatch from beautiful eggs which are a chocolate brown camouflaged with thick, wavy lines of dark brown and black. The chicks are precocial, meaning they are able to fend for themselves from the time they hatch. Given that the nest is so flimsy, it is easy to see why Jacana chicks need to be precocial.

When small chicks, these Jacanas hunt small insects on the surface of the lily pads and pond weeds.

Adult Jacanas have long and slender necks and their toes and claws are extremely long – up to 10.2 cm. The newly hatched chicks have legs and feet which appear to be nearly half their body length.

“If you truly love nature, you will find beauty everywhere.” ~ Vincent van Gogh

Despite their large feet and long thin toes, these Jacana chicks are able to swim surprisingly well. If there is immediate danger and their father is too far away to gather them under his wings, the chicks are able to dive into the water and remain submerged with just their beak and nostrils above the water until the danger has passed.

Although the chicks are able to leave the nest and feed themselves very soon after hatching, their father plays a shepherding and protection role in the early weeks after hatching. The chicks are looked after by their father for between 40 and 70 days and reach adult plumage around one year of age.

The adult African jacana has striking plumage. It has a black crown, nape and eyestripe. Its cheek patches and neck are white and it has a golden necklace in the front of its neck between its white neck plumage and the rich chestnut brown upper and lower parts. The adult African jacana also has a sky blue frontal shield above its upper mandible which is thought to protect it when foraging among reeds with sharp leaves, and mate identification, sexual selection, and territorial defense.

The responsibility of caring for the chicks falls solely on the Jacana father, who incubates and raises the chicks. The male will protect the chicks and has also developed the ability to lift and carry the chicks under his wings.

“I cannot think of any need in childhood as strong as the need for a father’s protection.”  ~ Sigmund Freud

These huge feet enable them to occupy a very specialised ecological niche. They can walk right into the heart of the lily field and avoid ground predators. In the face of danger from above, they dive into the water and use their beak as a snorkel to stay underwater until the danger passes.

The male’s ability to carry his chicks under his wings helps him run across the lily pads to escape danger with all of his chicks at once. He is capable of carrying four small chicks under his wings.

Most species of jacanas are polyandrous, meaning that a single female will mate with several males and then lay eggs in each of their nests. Typically, a female will mate with two to four males. The female defends the territories of the males while incubation is occurring but abandons the nest and territory once the young hatch. The females are noticeably larger than the males but the plumage of both sexes is similar.

The male walks across the lily pads standing just long enough for the lily pad to support him. The adult’s feet are unique and the toes are around one third of the length of the body and distribute the weight of the bird over a wide area which substantially slows the sink rate on top of the lily pad.

When foraging the adult Africa jacana has a high stepping gait, primarily to lift its toes clear of the lily pad.

The preferred diet of an African jacana is freshwater insects and larvae, spiders, crustaceans and molluscs, even small fish if they can catch them. The adults are not bound by one lily pad patch and do fly from one floating lily pad raft to another. Both the male and female African jacanas are territorial so they often noisily tangle with newcomers which can makes wonderful photographic opportunities for wildlife interaction. African jacanas are non migratory but relatively nomadic driven by droughts and flooding which forces them to seek new habitats.

“Everything is unusual about it. Colours, breeding behaviour and parenting. It calls water lilies home and has feet large enough to trot on water lilies. The more you look at it, the stranger it seems and the more bewitched by the wonder of it you become.” ~ Mike Haworth

The female African jacana is around twice as big as the male, averaging 260 grams compared to 140 grams of the male. Jacanas average 240 mm in length and have a wingspan averaging 510 mm. The adult has a short tail adapted for its short flight behaviour.

African jacanas have short rounded wings which enable them to fly short distances from one lily pad raft to another, but usually not more than 100 metres. When flying their necks and legs are outstretched much like stork, a configuration suited for longitudinal balance. They normally have to run across lily pads to take off mainly because the lily pad floats and is not stable.

African Jacanas are fascinating waders by virtue of their breeding behaviour, role play, morphology and their preferred habitat. They are diurnal feeders and are found along most river banks and on floating vegetation in rivers and dams.

“Living is like tearing through a museum. Not until later do you really start absorbing what you saw, thinking about it, looking it up in a book, and remembering – because you can’t take it in all at once.” ~ Audrey Hepburn

Inevitably, when quietly drifting among the water lilies we see many more species of birds such as Little and Blue-cheeked bee-eaters, many species of heron, Brown-throated weavers, coucals, and Black crakes to name just a few. When watching African jacanas there is always something happening. These unique waders are photogenic, very active and get involved in numerous interactions with competing jacanas, ideal for bird photography.

Explore, seek to understand, marvel at its interconnectedness and let it be.

Have fun, Mike