The Story
I photographed this Wattled Jacana (Jacana jacana) at Hacienda El Escobal in Ibagué, Tolima, Colombia. The male incubates, holding the eggs between his wings and breast. It has yellow bony spurs on the front edge of its wings that it can use to defend itself and its young. The female is larger than the male and keeps a harem of up to four or five males. Ibagué, the capital of Tolima, sits on the Central Andes between the Combeima Canyon and the Magdalena valley, near Nevado del Tolima. Hacienda El Escobal is part of the Picaleña lagoon complex, and by eBird’s December 2021 data 309 bird species had been reported there.
I made this frame with a Pentax K-1 and the HD Pentax-D FA 150-450mm f/4.5-5.6, at 1/640 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200. IUCN lists the Wattled Jacana as Least Concern, with a stable population.
©2019 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Wattled Jacana (Jacana jacana) belongs to the family Jacanidae (Jacanas) in the eBird/Clements taxonomy.
Source: eBird.org (opens in a new tab)
Conservation
Least Concern on the IUCN Red List (assessment published 2020), with the population trend listed as stable. Source: IUCN Red List