Approaching a pond in among the trees of a tropical forest, a person might think his eyes were deceiving him when he sees a group of large birds walking on the water. But coming closer, he would find they were actually walking on lily pads. These are jacanas which are sometimes called lily-trotters or banana coots.
Of the eight varieties, two live in North, Central and South America. Some of these pretty birds have dark red faces with a yellow beak. Their bodies are mostly black or dark blue with the outer half of their wings a solid white. 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 they will lift the edge of a lily pad, looking for 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. When that is finished, the female shows up and lays six eggs but flies away again and lets the male do the incubating for about three weeks.
The newly hatched babies are helpless and have 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 food. The young birds 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, as the Bible states: “Thou, even Thou, art Lord alone; Thou hast made . . . the earth, and all things that are therein” (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 us to trust in the Lord Jesus who came into the world to die for us. Have you done this?
ML-10/22/2000