Pheasant-tailed jacana
Pheasant-tailed jacana | |
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The breeding plumage is marked by the elongated central tail feathers, white front and wing, and the silky golden nape feathers | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Charadriiformes |
Family: | Jacanidae |
Genus: | Hydrophasianus Wagler, 1832 |
Species: | H. chirurgus
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Binomial name | |
Hydrophasianus chirurgus (Scopoli, 1786)
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Synonyms | |
Parra chinensis |
The pheasant-tailed jacana (Hydrophasianus chirurgus) is a jacana in the monotypic genus Hydrophasianus. Like all other jacanas, they have elongated toes and nails that enable them to walk on floating vegetation in shallow lakes, their preferred habitat. They may also swim or wade in water reaching their body while foraging mainly for invertebrate prey. They are found in tropical Asia from Yemen in the west to the Philippines in the east and move seasonally in parts of their range. They are the only jacanas that migrate long distances and have different non-breeding and breeding plumages. The pheasant-tailed jacana forages by swimming or by walking on aquatic vegetation. Females are larger than males and are polyandrous, laying several clutches that are raised by different males in their harem.
Description
The pheasant-tailed jacana is conspicuous and unmistakable. It is the longest
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juvenile has a dark stripe on the side of the neck, unlike a young bronze-winged jacana.
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Non breeding plumage
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Breeding plumage
The pointed tip of the fourth primary is visible in flight
Taxonomy and systematics
The pheasant-tailed jacana was described by the
The genus Hydrophasianus, meaning "water pheasant", was erected by Johann Georg Wagler in 1832 as the species was distinctive in having a slender bill, lacking any frontal lappet, having a shorter hind claw than Metopidius, bearing on the outer two primaries lanceolate elongations, and having a pointed fourth primary. The distinct breeding and non-breeding plumage is unique within the jacanas.[14][15]
Measurements
The following are standard measurements from a study based on living specimens during the breeding season in Thailand. They are averaged from 17 males and 4 females. A few measurements are from Rasmussen and Anderton (2005),[16] where the head measurement (range given rather than mean) is from the tip of the bill to the back of the skull.
Measurements | ||
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Male | Female | |
mass (g) | 129.2 | 140.7 |
bill (cm) | 2.89 | 3.12 |
wing (cm) | 24.76 | 25.83 |
tarsus (cm) | 5.72 | 6.33 |
tail (cm) | 25.75 | 28.34 |
head (cm) | 5.3-5.5 | 5.8-6.3 |
length (cm) | 45.91 | 50.27 |
Body mass measurements can vary widely based on physiological conditions and are generally not used for taxonomic purposes. A dataset from the Philippines gives the body mass ranges as 120–140 g (4.2–4.9 oz) in males and 190–200 g (6.7–7.1 oz) in females.[17]
Distribution and habitat
The pheasant-tailed jacana is a resident breeder in tropical India, Southeast Asia, and Indonesia; it overlaps greatly in range with the bronze-winged jacana, but, unlike the bronze-winged jacana, is found in Sri Lanka. It is found on small to large lakes having sufficient floating vegetation. It is sedentary in much of its range, but northern breeders from south China and the
Behaviour and ecology
The pheasant-tailed jacana's main sources of food are insects, molluscs, and other invertebrates picked from floating vegetation or the water's surface. It forages by walking on vegetation and also by swimming in water, somewhat like phalaropes (although Hoffmann claims that they wade in deeper water but never swim[10]). It also ingests filamentous algae, seeds and plant material, but this may be purely accidental.[23][24][25] Flocks of as many as 50 to 100 can be found on a body of water, and they can become tame and habituated to human presence. They usually fly low over the water surface but may also mob raptors higher in the air. On landing, they keep their wings open until they find firm footing.[6]
The typical call is a mewing me-onp or a nasal teeun among winter flocks.[6] Males and females have different calls during the breeding season, and several contextual variants exist. Young birds produce a low cheep with the bill closed.[18]
Breeding
This jacana breeds on floating vegetation during the rainy season. In southern India, it breeds in the monsoon season, June–September. It is polyandrous; one female may lay up to ten clutches in a single season that are raised by different males.[6] Female court males with flight displays around the males and with calling. The female builds a nest on floating vegetation made of leaves and stalks of plants with a depression in the centre. A single clutch consists of four glossy black-marked dark-olive-brown eggs (occasionally an egg in a clutch may be an odd pale sea-green in colour[26][27]) which are laid in the mornings at 24 hour intervals. When an egg is removed at the one- or two-egg stage, the nest is torn down and a new one built, whereas a removal at the three-egg stage does not result in replacement. Once the clutch of four is laid, the male begins incubation and the female leaves to court a different male. In a study in Thailand it was found that it took a female 17 to 21 days to lay the next clutch.[28] A study in China found females taking 9–12 days and laying nearly 7 to 10 clutches in a season.[18] Males may move or drag eggs around by holding them between the bill and breast or between the wings and body. They may also push and float the eggs over water and onto nearby vegetation platforms when disturbed.[29] Nests may be moved to distances of about 15 metres.
Eggs may be preyed on by pond herons, while chicks may bet taken by birds of prey such as
In culture
The pheasant-tailed jacana is commonly distributed in lily ponds in Sri Lanka and on account of its mewing call is known as the "cat teal" or juana in Sinhalese.[36] In Cachar district of Assam, it is known by the name rani didao gophita, which translates to "little white water princess".[7][37]
References
- . Retrieved 12 November 2021.
- .
- ^ LaPersonne, V.S. (1934). "A note on the appendages and barbs on the wings of the Pheasant-tailed Jacana [Hydrophasianus chirurgus (Scop.)]". Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society. 37 (3): 733.
- ^ LaPersonne, V. S. (1934). "A note on the appendages and barbs on the wings of the Pheasant-tailed Jacana [Hydrophasianus chirurgus (Scop.)]". J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 37: 733.
- ^ Rand, A.L. (1954). "On the spurs on birds' wings". The Wilson Bulletin. 66: 127–134.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-395-60237-9.
- ^ a b c d Ali, Salim; Ripley, S. Dillon (1980). Handbook of the Birds of India and Pakistan. Volume 2. Megapodes to Crab Plover (2 ed.). Oxford University Press. pp. 199–200.
- ^ Whistler, Hugh (1949). Popular handbook of Indian birds (4 ed.). London: Gurney and Jackson. pp. 457–459.
- ^ Shufeldt, R.W. (1919). "The Osteology of the giant gallinule of the Philippines, Porphyrio pulverulentus Temminck with notes on the osteology of Tachybaptus philippensis (Bonnaterre) and Hydrophasianus chirurgus (Scopoli)". The Philippine Journal of Science. 14: 87–104.
- ^ a b c Hoffmann, Alfred (1950). "Zur Brutbiologie des polyandrischen Wasserfasans Hydrophasianus chirurgus". Scop. Ornithol. Ber. (in German). 2: 119–126.
- ^ Sonnerat, Pierre (1776). Voyage à la Nouvelle Guinée : dans lequel on trouve la description des lieux, des observations physiques & morales, & des détails relatifs à l'histoire naturelle dans le regne animal & le regne végétal. Paris: Chez Ruault. pp. 82–84.
- ^ Scopoli, Giovanni Antonio (1787). Deliciae florae et faunae Insubricae. Pars II (PDF). p. 92.
- ^ Blanford, W.T. (1898). The Fauna of British India. Birds. Volume IV. Calcutta: Taylor and Francis. pp. 219–221.
- ^ Baker, E.C. Stuart (1929). The Fauna of British India. Birds. Volume VI (2 ed.). London: Taylor and Francis. pp. 42–43.
- ^ Mitchell, P. Chalmers (1905). "On the anatomy of Limicoline birds; with special reference to the correlation of modification". Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London. 2: 155–169.
- ^ Rasmussen, P.C.; Anderton, J. (2005). Birds of South Asia. The Ripley guide. Volume 2. Smithsonian Institution and Lynx edicions. p. 150.
- ISBN 9781420064445.
- ^ a b c Hoffmann, Alfred (1949). "Über die Brutpflege des polyandrischen Wasserfasans, Hydrophasianus chirurgus (Scop.)". Zoologische Jahrbücher (in German). 78: 367–403.
- ^ Demey, Ron, ed. (2005). "Recent report". Bulletin of the African Bird Club. 12 (1): 71.
- ^ Balmer, D.; Betton, K., eds. (2006). "Around the region". Sandgrouse. 28 (2): 184–192.
- ^ Betterton, F.A. (1947). "The altitudinal limit of the Pheasant-tailed Jacana [Hydrophasianus chirurgus (Scopoli)]". J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 47 (2): 384.
- .
- ^ Jenni, D.A.; Bonan, A. (2019). "Jacanas (Jacanidae)". In del Hoyo, J.; Elliott, A.; Sargatal, J.; Christie, D.A.; de Juana, E. (eds.). Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions. Retrieved 2019-03-26.
- ^ .
- ^ Mason, C.W. (1911). Maxwell-Lefroy, H. (ed.). The Food of Birds in India. Memoirs of the Department of Agriculture in India. Entomological Series. Volume III. p. 264.
- ^ Livesey, T.R. (1921). "Eggs of the Pheasant-tailed Jacana (H. chirurgus)". J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 27 (4): 954.
- ^ Inglis, C.M. (1920). "Abnormal coloured egg of the Pheasant-tailed Jacana (Hydrophasianus chirurgus)". J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 27 (2): 403.
- ^ a b Thong-aree, Siriporn; Khobkhet, Obas; Lauhachinda, Virayuth; Pong-umpai, Somnuk (1995). "Breeding biology of Pheasant-tailed Jacana Hydrophasianus chirurgus in central Thailand" (PDF). Nat. Hist. Bull. Siam Soc. 43: 289–302.
- ^ Serrao, J.S; Shekhar, P.B. (1962). "Pheasant-tailed Jacanas at Kalina". Newsletter for Birdwatchers. 2 (1): 4–6.
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- ^ Finn, Frank (1902). "Notes on the Painted Snipe (Rostratula capensis) and Pheasant-tailed Jacana (Hydrophasianus chirurgus)". Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London. 1: 261–264.
- ^ Stunkard, H.W.; Nigrelli, R.F.; Gandal, C.P. (1958). "The morphology of Renicola philippinensis, n. sp., a digenetic trematode from the pheasant-tailed Jacana, Hydrophasianus chirurgus (Scopoli)". Zoologica. 43: 105–113.
- ^ Odening, K. (1970). "Neue wirte aus Lateinamerika und Sudasien für einige Vogeltrematoden" [New hosts for some bird trematodes from Latin America and South Asia]. Anales del Instituto de Biologia Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Zoologia. 41 (1): 109–119.
- ^ Emerson, K.C.; Elbel, R.E. (1961). "A new species of Rallicola (Mallophaga) from southeast Asia". Entomological News. 72: 130–132.
- ISBN 1882932080.
- ^ Layard, E.L. (1854). "Notes on the ornithology of Ceylon, collected during an eight years' residence in the island". The Annals and Magazine of Natural History. 14.
- ^ Baker, E.C. Stuart (1929). "The game birds of the Indian Empire. Vol V. The waders and other semi-sporting birds. Part IX". Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society. 33 (3): 473–479.