The monotypic Family Jacanidae has the Wattled Jacana as the only representative known to occur in Peru. Jacanas have huge feet and claws, which enable them to walk on floating vegetation in the shallow lakes that are their preferred habitat. Jacanas have sharp bills, rounded wings, and wattles on their foreheads. Females are larger than males. Like the phalaropes, males Wattled Jacana
take responsibility for incubation of the eggs and are polyandrous. However, adults of both sexes look identical, as with most shorebirds. They construct relatively flimsy nests on floating vegetation, and lay eggs with dark irregular lines on their shells. Their diet consists of insects and other invertebrates picked from the floating vegetation or the water’s surface. Photo: Wattled Jacana. ©Quinten Questel.
THINOCORIDAE: Seedsnipes – Agachonas