CreatureData

Northern jacana

Jacana spinosa (Linnaeus, 1758)

LCLeast Concernbirds

The northern jacana (Jacana spinosa) is a species in the family Jacanidae, order Charadriiformes. Recorded adults weigh 79 g to 153.2 g. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.

Northern jacana (Jacana spinosa)
Photo: Paul Kehrer · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the northern jacana

Weight
79 g – 153.2 gsrc for Weight
Length
Not recorded
Wingspan
36 cmsrc for Wingspan
Lifespan
Not recorded
Diet
Aquatic predatorsrc for Diet
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
wetlandsrc for Habitat
Egg incubation
28 dayssrc for Egg incubation
Young per litter or clutch
4src for Young per litter or clutch
Lifestyle
Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
Migration
Sedentarysrc for Migration
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
Countries on record
Not recorded

How big is the northern jacana?

NORTHERN JACANA · WINGSPAN 36 CMADULT HUMAN · HEIGHT 1.7 M
At 36 cm, the recorded maximum wingspan of the northern jacana is about 21% of the height of an adult human (1.7 m, a fixed reference used for scale).

Where does the northern jacana live?

Not recorded

What is the northern jacana?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

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.

From the Wikipedia article “Northern jacana” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Northern_jacana&oldid=1341317313), 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 northern jacana endangered?

The northern jacana is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.

  1. LCLeast Concern
  2. NTNear Threatened
  3. VUVulnerable
  4. ENEndangered
  5. CRCritically Endangered
  6. EWExtinct in the Wild
  7. 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 northern jacana classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classAves
  4. orderCharadriiformes
  5. familyJacanidae
  6. genusJacana
  7. SpeciesJacana spinosa (Linnaeus, 1758)

Synonyms Fulica spinosa, Jacana gymnostoma, Jacana spinosa gymnostoma, Jacana spinosa spinosa, Jacana spinosa violacea, Parra cordifera, Parra gymnostoma, Parra variabilis

Other names and names in other languages (30)
  • jacana del CaribCatalan
  • ostnák trnitýCzech
  • Nordlig JacanaDanish
  • Gelbstirn-BlatthühnchenGerman
  • flavafrunta jakanoEsperanto
  • Jacana norteñaSpanish
  • Jacana centroamericanaSpanish
  • kuldlauk-lootoselind (kuldlauk-jassaana)Estonian
  • amerikanjassanaFinnish
  • Jacana du MexiqueFrench
  • žutočela jakanaCroatian
  • északi jasszánaHungarian
  • Jacana del CentroamericaItalian
  • アメリカレンカクJapanese
  • geltonkaktė žakanaLithuanian
  • Amerikas jakānaLatvian
  • JacanaDutch
  • leljacanaDutch
  • gulpannebladhøneNorwegian
  • długoszpon żółtoczelnyPolish
  • jaçanã-centro-americanaPortuguese
  • jaçanã-de-fronte-amarelaPortuguese
  • Желтолобая яканаRussian
  • jakana ostnatáSlovak
  • Severna jakanaSerbian
  • gulpannad jassanaSwedish
  • Sarı Alınlı JakanaTurkish
  • якана жовтолобаUkrainian
  • 美洲水雉Chinese
  • 距翅水雉Chinese

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List

Relatives of the northern jacana

Other species in the same genus Jacana.

CompareNorthern jacana vs Wattled jacana

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the northern jacana?

An adult northern jacana weighs 79 g – 153.2 g and has a wingspan of 36 cm, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

Is the northern jacana endangered?

The northern 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 northern jacana?

The northern jacana (Jacana spinosa) 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.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Northern jacana (Jacana spinosa). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/northern-jacana

MLA

“Northern jacana (Jacana spinosa).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/northern-jacana.

BibTeX
@misc{northern_jacana_2026,
  title = {Northern jacana (Jacana spinosa)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/northern-jacana},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}