Northern jacana

Northern jacana
In Tortuguero National Park, Costa Rica
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Charadriiformes
Family:	Jacanidae
Genus:	Jacana
Species:	J. spinosa
Binomial name
Jacana spinosa (Linnaeus, 1758)
Synonyms[2]
Fulica spinosa Linnaeus, 1758 Parra variabilis Linnaeus, 1766 Parra jacana Shaw, 1824 Parra cordifera Lesson, 1842

The northern jacana or northern jaçana (Jacana spinosa) is a wader which is known as a resident breeder from coastal Mexico to western Panama, and on Cuba, Jamaica and Hispaniola in the Caribbean. It sometimes known to breed in Texas, United States, and has also been recorded on several occasions as a vagrant in Arizona. The jacanas are a group of wetland birds, 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. In Jamaica, this bird is also known as the 'Jesus bird', as it appears to walk on water.^[3] Jacana is Linnæus' scientific Latin spelling of the Brazilian Portuguese jaçanã, pronounced [ʒasaˈnɐ̃], from the Tupi name of the bird. See jacana for pronunciations.