• They tend to look rather clumsy with their elongated feet hanging below them
Image: GARETH JONES
We sat quietly at the hyena dam, after about 10 minutes of waiting the wildlife began to behave naturally.
A pair of African Jacanas (Actophilornis africanus) emerged from the reeds and trotted easily over the water lilies in search of food.
Jacanas have several nicknames, "lily trotter," and "water walker” and even “Jesus bird" because they look like they are walking on water.
Why would a bird have such funny looking feet? If he walked on land, those long toes would get in the way. However, the jacana walks on water lily pads and other plants that grow in the water. The long toes hold him up like snowshoes hold up a person who is walking on soft snow.
Jacanas can fly but not very often, and they tend to look rather clumsy with their elongated feet hanging below them. When they land they always flip up their wings. No one knows why?
Jacanas live on the surface of ponds where water lilies and other plants grow. They eat some plant food as well as the little water animals and insect larva that fasten themselves to plant stems and the underside of lily pads. They always seem hungry. Amazingly it is the male jacanas that raise the young and they can actually carry them under their wings. They live in warm countries, mainly in southern and central Africa, parts of Asia, Australia and parts of the Americas.
I always find it a joy to see birds when in the park, God has created so such amazing diversity. So remember to go to the Nairobi National Park with the attitude of “bird watching”, take some time to sit quietly at a dam and encounter nature in a wonderfully different way, by letting nature come to you, instead of trying to chase after it. You just never know a jacana might come trotting on the lilies.
For more information link to the following website www.kws.go.ke