The Wattled Jacana is a small wading bird that walks over floating vegetation on long, thin toes.
Adults have chestnut backs and wings, while most of the body is black. A red fleshy shield reaches from the bill to the forehead, with red wattles near the bill base.
Wattled Jacanas walk on floating vegetation with elongated toes and search leaves for food. Males incubate and provide most chick care.
A 2004 study of marked birds in Panama linked larger female body size and ornamentation with territorial and mating competition. Male parental investment forms part of this sex-role-reversed breeding system.
Chicks hatch in floating vegetation nests and soon walk and forage while receiving parental protection. Habitat loss in some populations makes retention of these wetlands relevant to breeding and feeding.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.
Development-driven habitat loss affects some populations. Freshwater wetlands with floating vegetation provide both feeding and nesting habitat, making retention of these environments a conservation need.