When photographer Neal Cooper aimed his camera at a male African jacana darting across a pond in Botswana’s Chobe National Park, he thought he’d simply captured a striking wildlife moment.
But when he reviewed the photo, he blinked in surprise — the bird seemed to have eight legs.
Some long, some short, all in motion — it looked like something out of a nature fantasy. Yet the truth behind the image was even more magical than it appeared.
Cooper hadn’t photographed a mutant bird at all. What he’d actually captured was the purest act of fatherhood in the animal world — a devoted dad carrying his tiny chicks to safety beneath his wings.
“I was aware of the jacana behavior where the larger female only lays the eggs and the father incubates and raises the chicks,” Cooper told The Dodo. “I was hoping to capture an image where the dad carries them across the lily pads. And this dad did exactly that — when he crouched down, all four chicks climbed in under his wings.”
Because jacana chicks are born with incredibly long legs and toes to help them balance on floating leaves, those legs dangle adorably out from beneath their father’s feathers — creating the charming illusion of a bird with too many limbs to count.
Jacana fathers are famous for their devotion. They let their chicks explore freely but never stray too far. When danger looms or the little ones grow tired, Dad calls them over, crouches down, and scoops them beneath his wings — turning himself into a living shelter.
When the coast is clear, he simply stands up, and the chicks tumble gently back onto the lilies, ready to explore again.
“The dad will typically stand up and the chicks will drop out onto the lilies and move off immediately,” Cooper said.
For the first few months of their lives, these chicks stay close to their father — learning how to forage, dive, and survive, always under his careful watch.
And thanks to Cooper’s perfectly timed shot, the world got to see what that love looks like: a hardworking father disguised as a bird with eight legs, carrying his family across the water — one step at a time.
