Pheasant-tailed Jacana

Latin Name: 
Hydrophasianus chirurgus
Category: 
Size: 
30cm
Description: 

Sexes alike. Male: breeding plumage chocolate-brown and white; goldenyellow on hind-neck. Dull brown and white; when not breeding, also has blackish necklace and lacks long tail; very long toes diagnostic. Solitary or in pairs when breeding; small flocks in winter; purely aquatic, moving on vegetation-covered pond surfaces; unusually long toes enable it to walk on the lightest of floating leaves; quite confiding on village ponds.

Habitat: 
ponds and jheels covered with floating vegetation.
Food: 
mostly seeds, tubers, roots; also insects, molluscs.
Distribution: 
throughout area, up to about 1,500m in Kashmir; occasionally seen much higher.
Call: 
Call Description: 
loud, mewing call when breeding, two birds often calling in duet.
National Status: