Juvenile Jacana Bird Downies

Both the creation of the nests and parenting are the responsibility of the males. A male constructs a nest on top of the water with whatever plant matter he can find. A male jacana will grab vegetation and walk backwards to uproot it and continues to walk backward to drop the plant part in the nest. The male pushes against and steps on the plant parts to create a compact mount. The best nest are ones that are the most dense and stable. A male may create several nests at different sites and the female may choose one or find a site of her own in the territory. The male usually brings up the chicks without help from the female. He spends 28 days sitting on and incubating the eggs. A female may sometimes shade and squat over the eggs but rarely incubate them. A female may reluctantly incubate the eggs if a male doesn’t have sufficient time to forage throughout the day due to rain and cool temperatures. Males spend most of their time within their territory during incubation but sometimes leave the nest unattended for long periods of time. A male performs when each egg hatches and stands next to the nest to peer into it. The males continues to incubate to remaining eggs while brooding the hatched chicks. When all the eggs have hatched, the male will dispose of the remaining egg shells. It will also lead the chicks away from the nest within the next 24 hours.
Young jacana chicks are called downies and have patterns of orange, browns, black and some white on them. Older chicks are gray and have brownish upper parts. Chicks are able to swim, dive and feed shortly after they hatch. The male will not feed the chick but lead them to food. The male will brood the chicks for many weeks. As the chicks get bigger, fewer can fit under the males wing. Females may brood chicks when the male is away. Territorial defense for both males and females increase when the chicks are born. Males are intolerant of intruders in their territory and make calls to the female for help for predator defense. Females respond to every call the male makes and invests much interest in the safety of the chicks, despite having little interaction with them. The females provide the males with a new clutch when the chicks are 12–16 weeks old.