Pheasant-tailed Jacana Hydrophasianus chirurgus Scientific name definitions

39–58 cm (including 25–35 cm tail), in non-breeding plumage c. 31 cm; male c. 120–140 g, female c. 190–231 g (1 Dunning, J. B., Jr. (2008). CRC Handbook of Avian Body Masses. Second edition. CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL, USA. Close ). The only jacana with different breeding and non-breeding plumages. Conspicuous white wings, with black outermost primaries and black tips to other primaries, outer­most secondaries and greater primary-coverts; sharp, pointed carpal spur  . Breeding plumage: head and lower neck white, black patch at rear of crown continues as black line down each side of neck separating glossy golden-yellow hindneck from white foreneck; body and tail feathers vary from blackish brown to paler brown, with greenish wash on back; tips of outer primaries possess 2 cm spatulate extension; tail graduated with central two feathers greatly elongated, 19–38 cm. Non-breeding plumage : upperparts paler greenish brown extending onto outer parts of lesser and median coverts; crown and hindneck blackish, golden-yellow on sides, with blackish-brown eyestripe continuing down sides of neck and forming breastband ; tail graduated but much shorter , 11–12 cm. Female similar to male, but significantly larger, although precise data lacking. Bare parts: iris brown to pale yellow, bill brown to yellowish base (becoming slate-blue with yellow tip when breeding) and legs and feet pale blue-grey. Juvenile similar to non-breeding adult, but back to forehead rufous-brown, no yellow on sides of neck, and breastband indistinct . Non-breeders and juveniles separated from superficially similar Metopidius indicus in same plumages by white wings in flight and by dark lines on sides of neck.

NE Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nepal, India and Sri Lanka through Myanmar to SE China and Taiwan, and S to SE Asia, S Borneo and Philippines. Winters sparsely S to Malay Peninsula, Sumatra and Java, with a handful of records from Bali (2 Mason, V. (2011). A revised checklist for the birds of Bali, with notes on recent additions to the avifauna. Kukila 15:1–30. Close ), and also W to Oman and Yemen.

Extensive freshwater wetlands , including lakes, ponds, reservoirs (3 Wells, D. R. (1999). The Birds of the Thai-Malay Peninsula. Volume 1. Non-passerines. Academic Press, London, UK. Close ), paddies (3 Wells, D. R. (1999). The Birds of the Thai-Malay Peninsula. Volume 1. Non-passerines. Academic Press, London, UK. Close ) and swampy ground; breeds on floating and floating-emergent aquatic vegetation, including water-lilies. Typically nests  in wetlands cultivated for the edible seeds of Trapa and corms of water chestnuts (Eleocharis), lotus (Nelumbo) and water-lilies. Winters in similar habitat, but may use more emergent vegetation, and also recorded in mangroves and on inland rivers in Peninsular Malaysia albeit solely on migration (3 Wells, D. R. (1999). The Birds of the Thai-Malay Peninsula. Volume 1. Non-passerines. Academic Press, London, UK. Close ).

Makes local movements year-round, in response to changing water conditions throughout most of distribution. The only jacana with established migratory patterns, populations from China and high altitudes of Himalayas migrate S, but routes and behaviour unknown, although N breeders postulated to reach Indochina (4 Robson, C. R., J. C. Eames, Nguyen Cu, and Truong Van La (1993). Birds recorded during the BirdLife/Forest Birds Working Group expedition in Vietnam. Forktail 9:89–119. Close ) and species is apparently entirely a passage migrant and winter visitor in Peninsular Malaysia (extreme dates Oct–Jun, though few records after May) (3 Wells, D. R. (1999). The Birds of the Thai-Malay Peninsula. Volume 1. Non-passerines. Academic Press, London, UK. Close ). Non-breeders occur throughout most of breeding range, and regularly in small numbers in Sumatra, Java, Oman and S Yemen; e.g. up to 50 recorded at Khawr Rawri, W Oman, in Feb (see also Status and Conservation). Probably breeds in SE Borneo, but no definite records. A handful of records on Bali (2 Mason, V. (2011). A revised checklist for the birds of Bali, with notes on recent additions to the avifauna. Kukila 15:1–30. Close ) and one in NW Australia; vagrant to S Japan (N to Honshu), as well as South Korea, Andaman Is (5 Pande, S., Sant, N. and Pednekar, S. (2011). Avifaunal survey of South- and Middle-Andamans, November 262629. Indian Birds. 7(4): 104–106. Close , 6 Sivaperuman, C., Dinesh, J. and Gokulakrishnan, G. (2013). Sighting of Pheasant-tailed Jacana (Hydrophasianus chirugus Scopoli, 1758) from South Andaman. Tiger Paper. 40(4): 13–17. Close ), United Arab Emirates (7 Smiles, M. (2014). Pheasant-tailed Jacana Hydrophasianus chirurgus in the United Arab Emirates: the first and second national records. Sandgrouse. 36(2): 237–239. Close ) and Socotra (8 Chandler, R. (2009). Shorebirds of the Northern Hemisphere. Christopher Helm, London. Close ).

Insects  and invertebrates; reports that diet is vegetarian in India must be in error, but some aquatic vegetation ingested accidentally or incidentally, while seeds or ovules of lotus and lily may be taken intentionally. Prey gleaned from water surface and from surfaces and root systems of floating  and emergent vegetation. Swims and feeds in open water more commonly than other jacanas, and forages in loose groups, commonly of up to 13 birds (9 Ramachandran, N.K. (1998). Interspecific association of jacanas (Hydrophasianus chirurgus and Metopidius indicus) and the role of habitat. Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society. 95(1): 76–86. Close ), although birds usually defend an individual space (3 Wells, D. R. (1999). The Birds of the Thai-Malay Peninsula. Volume 1. Non-passerines. Academic Press, London, UK. Close ).

During breeding season gives either a loud “me-e-ou” or “me-onp”, while non-breeding birds may give a nasal “tewn, tewn”, apparently in alarm, and sometimes in unison (8 Chandler, R. (2009). Shorebirds of the Northern Hemisphere. Christopher Helm, London. Close ).

Season limited to summer months, Jun–early Sept at N limits, and to wet or monsoon months in India, Sri Lanka and SE Asia. Polyandrous, with female defending three males or more, and laying c. 10 clutches per year. Male reportedly remains mounted on female for up to five minutes before brief, 1–2 second, cloacal contact. Nest a pad of stems and pieces of aquatic vegetation; construction primarily by male; some nests substantial, others disintegrate rapidly in rising water and sometimes eggs simply laid on floating leaf; male often moves clutch to new location. Clutch four eggs ; replacement clutches laid every 6–15 days; male alone incubates and provides all direct parental care, but female aids in territory defence; downy  chicks  white below  , striped brown above  ; incubation and fledging periods unknown, but chicks may remain with male  for up to 50–60 days; young  capable of submerging almost completely in response to perceived danger (10 Bosque, C. and Herrera, E.A. (1999). “Snorkeling” by the chicks of the Wattled Jacana Wilson Bull.. 111(2): 262–265. Close ). In N China, male becomes receptive to female much sooner after hatching a clutch than in other species: may consort and copulate with female when chicks only two weeks of age, and one clutch of four eggs laid for male with chicks only 19 days old. Breeding success unknown, but low; Western Marsh-harrier (Circus aeruginosus) is one documented predator of this species and its nests (9 Ramachandran, N.K. (1998). Interspecific association of jacanas (Hydrophasianus chirurgus and Metopidius indicus) and the role of habitat. Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society. 95(1): 76–86. Close ). Age of maturity at least one year.

Not globally threatened (Least Concern). No overall estimate of population. Totally dependent on suitable wetlands ; use of shallow water by human populations for growing seeds and corms causes much loss of nests and their contents. Conversion of wetlands to agricultural use, such as duck ponds and aquaculture, threatens birds at local levels. Has bred twice in Arabia, both times in SW Oman, with over-summering also recorded in Qatar, in recent decades (11 Jennings, M. C. (2010). Atlas of the Breeding Birds of Arabia. Fauna of Arabia 25. King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology, Saudi Wildlife Commission and Senckenberg Forschungsinstitut und Naturmuseum, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and Frankfurt, Germany. Close ). Common in Pakistan, with up to 150 birds wintering on single lake in S Sind; common resident and winter visitor in Thailand; generally local in Vietnam (12 Nguyen Duc Tu, Nguyen Cu and Buckton, S. (2001). Wetlands and waterbirds in the Mekong Delta. Bull. Oriental Bird Club. 33: 30–33. Close ); uncommon in Peninsular Malaysia. Formerly bred as far N as Beijing, E China, but now apparently only S of R Yangtze; numbers apparently decreasing throughout E China. Considered in imminent danger of extinction on Taiwan in late 1990s, by which time the species was confined to a single site on the island that was threatened by the construction of a high-speed rail network (13 Anon. (1998). Pheasant-tailed Jacana in danger of extinction in Taiwan. Bull. Oriental Bird Club. 28: 12. Close ), but since then a habitat recovery project, initiated jointly by Wild Bird Federation Taiwan and Wetlands Taiwan, has successfully maintained a stable (albeit tiny) population (14 Fang, W.-H. (2004). Threatened birds of Taiwan. BirdingASIA 2: 61–65. Close ). May have declined at major wintering site in S Sumatra: at Meggala (NC Lampung), generally common with 30+ birds on each swamp in 1976, but none recorded during surveys in 1992–1994.