Northern Jacana (Jacana) [XC489542]
by Evan Buck from Los Chiles, Provincia de Alajuela, Costa Rica (song)
Northern Jacana (Jacana) [XC274196]
by Peter Boesman from Esquinas lodge, Piedras Blancas NP, Puntarenas, Costa Rica (call)
Subspecies
Forms superspecies with Wattled Jacana (Jacana jacana), and considered conspecific by some authors, but evidence not convincing. Accepted subspecies differ mainly in size, and may represent ecotypes rather than genuine subspecies.
The following 3 subspecies are recognised:
gymnostoma (Linnaeus, 1758) - Mexico, from south-central Sinaloa and central Tamaulipas south to Chiapas, Yucatán and Cozumel I; rarely south-eastern Texas (USA).
spinosa (Linnaeus, 1758) - Belize and Guatemala south to western Panama.
violacea (Cory, 1881) - Cuba, I of Pines, Jamaica and Hispaniola.