Lesser Jacana ( Microparra capensis, family: jacanidae)

lesser jacana kruger national park birds The Lesser Jacana (Latin name Microparra capensis) is described in Roberts Birds of Southern Africa, 7th Edition. This bird has a unique Roberts number of 241 and you will find a full description of this bird on page 383 also a picture of the Lesser Jacana on page 305. The Lesser Jacana belongs to the family of birds classified as jacanidae. According to the Percy FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology the Lesser Jacana is also known by these other names: Lesser Lilytrotter, Smaller Jacana.

The map of the Kruger you see on this page shows the areas (coloured orange) where this bird has been identified. The basic information was provided by the Avian Demographic Unit based at UCT and I created the maps from that information ... the green dots show the locations of the various Kruger National Park Rest Camps

The Lesser Jacana is neither Endemic or near Endemic to the Kruger National Park.

In terms of distribution of the Lesser Jacana in the Kruger National Park you may not see it in all areas. Lesser Jacana has been recorded in only 1 sections of the arbitrary Kruger Park regions I selected.

Identification assistance for this avian species ...

One of the first indicators to take note of when trying to identify a bird is it relative size. For example how big is the bird compared to a well known familiar bird. The Lesser Jacana is a small bird about the size of a house sparrow. Do not take this relative indicator as anything other than a rough easy to remember indicator. It is not a accurate visualization. The height of the Lesser Jacana is about 16 cms and its weight is about 41 gms

You will find that the male Lesser Jacana plumage and colours are different to that of the female Lesser Jacana

  • Head is golden, rufous.
  • Eye is brown.
  • Bill is brown.
  • Throat is white.
  • Back is brown.
  • Legs are green.

This bird has normally proportioned leg length.

Main diet items for this bird ...

The Lesser Jacana feeds in or around water mainly

Invertebrates

Breeding and nesting habits for this bird ...

The Lesser Jacana is monogamous unless its mate dies. In the event of a partner dying Microparra capensis will seek out a new mate

The nesting habit of Lesser Jacana is to create the nest on water. The bird lays eggs which are white in colour and number between 2 to 5

Habitat and flocking behaviour for this bird ...

The preferred habitats for Lesser Jacana are: wetlands and riverine areas

You can expect to see Lesser Jacana in flocks, or pairs or as single birds.

Names of this avian species in other languages ...

Xhosa ... Unknown

Zulu ... Unknown

Afrikaans ...Dwerglangtoon

German ... Zwergblatthhnchen

Portuguese ... Jacana-pequena

French ... Jacana nain

Dutch ... Dwergjacana

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For in-depth birding information please refer to these authoritative avian references ...

Robert's 7th edition number ... 241

The main reference source for this data was "Roberts - Birds of Southern Africa, 7th Edition" . Other references were "Newmans Birds of the Kruger Park" by Keith Newman published circa 1980 . Names in foreign languages were obtained from the Percy Fitzpatrick Institute of African Ornithology, University of Cape Town website , www.fitzpatrick.uct.ac.za