meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
Log in
BirdNote Daily

Jacana, aka Lily-trotter

BirdNote Daily

BirdNote

Bird Note, Nature, Nature Study, Birds, Ecology, Natural Sciences, 769080, Ecosystems, Bird Song, Bird, How To, Education, Science, Birdwatching, Birdnote, Wildlife, Birding, Sound, Outdoors

4.81.3K Ratings

🗓️ 15 March 2024

⏱️ 2 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Those long toes are made for walkin’.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

This is bird nut.

0:05.0

The northern jacona, found in Mexico, Central and South America and Cuba,

0:12.0

and the bird with the longest toes relative to its body size

0:16.7

of any bird. Those toes are long and they're made for walking.

0:23.0

Living in wetlands, jacanas are nicknamed Lily Trotters for their ability to walk on lily pads.

0:30.0

In Jamaica, they're sometimes known as Jesusbirds, because it looks as if they're walking on water.

0:35.6

Feats possible only because of those toes.

0:39.6

But that's not all it's cool about the jacana. The males carry their young

0:47.4

under their wings. Now you've seen a mother house cat kitten dangling from from her mouth, carrying kittens one by one to safety.

0:55.8

Well, the male jacana will carry his young too, except that he can carry several at once.

1:04.3

So picture this wildly colorful wading bird, crouching down and spreading his wings.

1:10.1

The young move in under him and he sweeps them up and carries them off,

1:14.0

tiny legs dangling from under his wings.

1:16.0

It doesn't look very comfortable for the young ones,

1:19.0

but it sure is safe.

1:21.0

Don't believe it.

1:22.0

We'll show you a video. Begin on our website

1:25.1

Birdnote.org. I'm going to be.

Please login to see the full transcript.

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BirdNote, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of BirdNote and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.

Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.