The eight species of Jaçanas (Jacanidae) are identifiable by their huge feet and claws which enable them to walk on floating vegetation in the shallow lakes that are their preferred habitat. They have sharp bills and rounded wings, and many species also have wattles on their foreheads.

The females are larger than the males; the latter, as in some other wader families like the phalaropes, take responsibility for incubation, and some species are polyandrous. They construct relatively flimsy nests on floating vegetation. Their diet consists of insects and other invertebrates picked from the floating vegetation or the water’s surface.

The name jaçanas is Linnæus' scientific Latin spelling of the Brazilian Portuguese "jaçanã", pronounced [ʒasaˈnɐ̃], from the Tupi name of the bird.