A person approaching a pond in among the trees of a tropical forest might think his eyes were deceiving him, in what appears to be a group of large birds walking on the water. But, coming closer, he would find them actually walking on lily pads. These are jacanas.
There are eight varieties of them; two of these live in North, Central and South America where they are often called lily-trotters or banana coots. These pretty birds, mostly black or deep blue with the outer half of their wings solid white, have a deep red face with a yellow beak. They are about the size of a chicken and have long, thin, scaly legs and toes, enabling them to spread their weight over enough area of a lily pad so they can walk on it without even getting their toes wet. Jerking their tails and taking high steps across the floating pads, they pick up seeds, insects and small fish, at times lifting the edge of a pad, hoping to find food on the bottom side. Flies are snatched out of the air and swallowed immediately. Bees are also favorites, but before swallowing one, they hold it under water so it cannot use its stinger. Who do you think taught them to do this?
Family life is left up to the male jacana, who first builds a floating nest on the water without any help from his mate. When that is finished, the female shows up and lays half-a-dozen eggs, but flies away again and lets the male do the incubating for about three weeks.
The newly hatched babies are helpless, with just a thin, moist covering of down. The father pushes them under his wings to dry out, keeping them sheltered for about three days. Soon feathers appear, and then the young ones are big enough to follow their parent across the lily pads in search of food. From then on their lives are on the water, and there is no need ever to go ashore. When in danger, young and old all dive under water for safety, but they normally spend the entire day walking across the lily pads, gathering their food. The young ones never see their mother. Isn’t it amazing how the father bird takes over these responsibilities?
Jacanas are part of the Creator’s wonderful works, of which the Bible speaks: “Thou, even Thou, art Lord alone; Thou hast made... the earth, and all things that are therein... and Thou preservest them all.” Nehemiah 9:66Thou, even thou, art Lord alone; thou hast made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth, and all things that are therein, the seas, and all that is therein, and thou preservest them all; and the host of heaven worshippeth thee. (Nehemiah 9:6).
His love extends to each of us in a very special way. He wants each of us to draw near to Himself, not just as the Creator of all things, but admitting we are helpless sinners. He wants us to trust in the Lord Jesus who came into the world to die for us. Have you done this?
ML-12/07/1986