Originally posted by swip What a weird looking bird. Great shot.
Jacanas look weird largely because of their enormously long toes. The right foot of the adult is reasonably visible in the posted image. Also unusual in jacanas - females form "harems" of males, that is, one female will have several nests with eggs, each attended by a different male. The males rear the chicks after they hatch (that's an adult male in the image I posted). Also unusual - when the chicks are very small and may not have legs large enough or toes long enough to walk across floating vegetation, the attending male will pick them up & carry them across difficult areas. It's trickier than the way loons & some other waterfowl allow the young to piggy-back.