African jacana
Actophilornis africanus (J. F. Gmelin, 1789)
The African jacana (Actophilornis africanus) is a species in the family Jacanidae, order Charadriiformes. Recorded adults weigh 137 g to 261 g. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.
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Quick facts about the African jacana
- Weight
- 137 g – 261 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- Not recorded
- Diet
- Aquatic predatorsrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- wetlandsrc for Habitat
- Egg incubation
- 22.5 dayssrc for Egg incubation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 4src for Young per litter or clutch
- Lifestyle
- Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
- Migration
- Partialsrc for Migration
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Where does the African jacana live?
Not recorded
What is the African jacana?
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.
From the Wikipedia article “African jacana” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=African_jacana&oldid=1377576954), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the African jacana endangered?
The African jacana is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species. What the categories mean.
How is the African jacana classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderCharadriiformes
- familyJacanidae
- genusActophilornis
- SpeciesActophilornis africanus (J. F. Gmelin, 1789)
Synonyms Atophilornis africana, Metopidius africanus, Parra africana
Other names and names in other languages (38)
- AFJAEnglish
- Jesus birdEnglish
- Lily-trotterEnglish
- GrootlangtoonAfrikaans
- يقنة أفريقيةArabic
- xacana africanaAsturian
- Jakana AfrikaBreton
- jacana africàCatalan
- ostnák africkýCzech
- Afrikansk BladhøneDanish
- BlaustirnblatthühnchenGerman
- Blaustirn-BlatthühnchenGerman
- afrika jakanoEsperanto
- Jacana africanaSpanish
- suur-lootoselindEstonian
- afrikanjassanaFinnish
- Jacana à poitrine doréeFrench
- Seacána AfracachIrish
- afrikai levéljáróHungarian
- アフリカレンカクJapanese
- Nkongorokwn
- afrikinė žakanaLithuanian
- LelieloperDutch
- afrikabladhøneNorwegian
- długoszpon afrykańskiPolish
- jaçanã-africanaPortuguese
- Африканская яканаRussian
- jakana modročeláSlovak
- Afrička jakanaSerbian
- Afrikansk jaçanaSwedish
- afrikansk jassanaSwedish
- Afrika JakanasıTurkish
- moGatsakwenaTswana
- якана африканськаUkrainian
- 長腳雉鴴Chinese
- 非洲雉鸻Chinese
- uNondwayizaZulu
- iThandaluziboZulu
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List
Relatives of the African jacana
Other species in the same genus Actophilornis.
Madagascar jacana
Actophilornis albinucha
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the African jacana?
An adult African jacana weighs 137 g – 261 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
Is the African jacana endangered?
The African jacana is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.
What kind of animal is the African jacana?
The African jacana (Actophilornis africanus) belongs to the family Jacanidae in the order Charadriiformes.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds · CC BY 4.0 · v7
Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
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CreatureData. (2026). African jacana (Actophilornis africanus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/african-jacana
“African jacana (Actophilornis africanus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/african-jacana.
@misc{african_jacana_2026,
title = {African jacana (Actophilornis africanus)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/african-jacana},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}