Actophilornis africanus
Silhouette: Burton Robert, USFWS · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~50%
The African jacana (Actophilornis africanus) is a wader in the family Jacanidae. It has long toes and long claws that enable it to walk on floating vegetation in shallow lakes, its preferred habitat. It is widely distributed in sub-Saharan Africa. For the origin and pronunciation of the name, see Jacanidae.
The African jacana was formally described in 1789 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's Systema Naturae. He placed it in the genus Parra and coined the binomial name Parra africana. Gmelin based his description on that by the English ornithologist John Latham who in 1785 had described and illustrated the species in his A General Synopsis of Birds. Gmelin and Latham gave the locality as "Africa": this was restricted to Ethiopia in 1915. The African jacana is now placed in the genus Actophilornis that was introduced in 1925 by the American ornithologist Harry C. Oberholser. The genus name combines the Ancient Greek aktē meaning "river bank" or "coastal strand", -philos meaning "-loving" and ornis meaning "bird".
The species is considered to be monotypic: no subspecies are recognised. Wikipedia →
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mombasa | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 2 | Zanzibar City | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 3 | N'Djamena | 🇹🇩 Chad | |
| 4 | Brazzaville | 🇨🇬 Republic of the Congo | |
| 5 | Dakar | 🇸🇳 Senegal | |
| 6 | Serrekunda | 🇬🇲 Gambia | |
| 7 | Ouagadougou | 🇧🇫 Burkina Faso | |
| 8 | Abuja | 🇳🇬 Nigeria | |
| 9 | Accra | 🇬🇭 Ghana | |
| 10 | Lagos | 🇳🇬 Nigeria |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Disney's Animal Kingdom | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | San Diego Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Pairi Daiza | 🇧🇪 Belgium | |
| 4 | Zürich Zoo | 🇨🇭 Switzerland | |
| 5 | Walsrode World Bird Park | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 6 | ZooTampa | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | Houston Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 8 | Tierpark Hagenbeck | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 9 | London Zoo | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 10 | National Aviary | 🇺🇸 United States |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report an African Jacana sighting in Tsavo West National Park on a given day, based on 69 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 183rd most-seen of the 380 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 30%, and over a week to about 50%, if each day is a fresh chance.
January, March and August
In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report an African Jacana in Tsavo West National Park on a given day, against under 5% in June and July, the lowest months.
Between 3 and 6 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most African 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.
31st of 40
Of the 40 parks where we can rate African Jacana sightings, Tsavo West National Park ranks 31st at about 10%. The best odds are in Liwonde National Park (Malawi, about 70%), Moremi Game Reserve (Botswana, about 70%) and Amboseli National Park (Kenya, about 70%). All parks ranked.
Same order: Charadriiformes
The closest relatives of the African Jacana that you can see in Tsavo West National Park (order Charadriiformes, Shorebirds and Allies) are Crowned Lapwing (about 20%), Blacksmith Lapwing (about 20%) and Spur-winged Lapwing (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the African Jacana is recorded against all the birds logged in Tsavo West National Park (69 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.
