Jacana spinosa
Silhouette: Burton Robert, USFWS · PhyloPic
In 3 days <5%
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 is 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.
The northern jacana was formally described in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae. He placed it with the coots in the genus Fulica and coined the binomial name Fulica spinosa. Linnaeus based his account on the "spur-winged water hen" that had been described and illustrated in 1743 by the English naturalist George Edwards in his A Natural History of Uncommon Birds. Edwards had borrowed a specimen from the collector Hans Sloane that had been preserved in alcohol. Edwards mistakenly believed his specimen had been collected... Wikipedia →
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | San Pedro Sula | 🇭🇳 Honduras | |
| 2 | León | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 3 | San José | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 4 | Guadalajara | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 5 | Managua | 🇳🇮 Nicaragua |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | San Diego Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Northern Jacana sighting in Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve on a given day, based on 12 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 264th most-seen of the 288 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to under 5%, if each day is a fresh chance.
Any time of year
In every month with enough records, under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Northern Jacana in Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve on a given day, so our monthly data shows no clear season.
Between 7 and 10 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Northern Jacana sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
32nd of 32
Of the 32 parks where we can rate Northern Jacana sightings, Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve ranks 32nd at under 5%. The best odds are in Palo Verde National Park (Costa Rica, about 70%), Tortuguero National Park (Costa Rica, about 60%) and Lago de Yojoa (Honduras, about 50%). All parks ranked.
Same order: Charadriiformes
The closest relatives of the Northern Jacana that you can see in Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve (order Charadriiformes, Shorebirds and Allies) are Royal Tern (about 20%), Spotted Sandpiper (about 10%) and Ruddy Turnstone (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Northern Jacana is recorded against all the birds logged in Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve (12 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
