Pheasant-tailed Jacana

Pheasant-tailed Jacana
This species is defined as a Review Species . Please submit your records of this species via our record submission page .

Scientific Name: Hydrophasianus chirurgus

Malay Name: Burung-Teratai Ekor Panjang

Chinese Name: 水雉

Range: Found from Indian subcontinent, China, Indochina, Philippines to Borneo and winter to Thai-Malay Peninsula, Indonesia and Northern Australia

Taxonomy: Monotypic.

Size: 29-31.5 cm

Identification: Non-breeding adult has drab brown upperparts, white underparts, short tail, yellow-buff supercilium/neck-side, dark crown and black eyestripe that leads to breast-band. Breeding adult has mostly blackish-brown body, white head/foreneck, yellow-buff hindneck, long black tail and mostly white wings. Juvenile resembles non-breeding adult but has rufous-chestnut crown and weaker/brownish breast band.

Habitat: Well-vegetated freshwater marshes and less suitable habitats on passage like mangroves, ponds, lakes and reservoirs.

Behaviour/Ecology: It is the male that take care for the young.

Local Status: Rare migrant

Conservation Status: Least Concern (BirdLife International 2016)

Featured articles:

Featured reports: Oct 2022, Dec 2022, Nov 2023

Past records in our database:

Showing only accepted records. Note that records currently under review are also not displayed, and the list may not be a full list of records of this species in Singapore. For more details, check the database here.

Migrant bar chart (see more bar charts):

Pheasant-tailed Jacana Hydrophasianus chirurgus
Average number of individuals by week based on Singapore Bird Database data, Jul 2014 to Jun 2024 (all records)
Peak week May 07-May 13
Early date 30 Oct 2022
Late date 16 May 1899
A locally rare waterbird occasionally recorded in Singapore. Despite the name, only breeding-plumaged birds are truly "pheasant-tailed". During the winter months, birds have short tails.
Non-breeding Pheasant-tailed Jacana from Thailand. Photo Credit: Daniel Koh
Breeding Pheasant-tailed Jacana from Hunan, China. Photo credit: Henry Koh
Non-breeding Pheasant-tailed Jacana from Thailand. Photo Credit: Daniel Koh
Non-breeding Pheasant-tailed Jacana at Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve. Photo Credit: Con Foley
Non-breeding Pheasant-tailed Jacana at Lorong Halus. Photo Credit: Francis Yap
Breeding Pheasant-tailed Jacana from Hunan, China. Photo credit: Henry Koh

External Links:

Conservation Status: IUCN Red List Page

Sound Recordings: xeno-canto Link

Wikipedia Entry: Wikipedia Link

eBird Species page: eBird (Pheasant-tailed Jacana)

References:

BirdLife International. (2016). Hydrophasianus chirurgus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22693543A93411790.en. Accessed on 1 January 2023

Robson, C. (2014). Field guide to the birds of South-East Asia (Second Edition). Bloomsbury Publishing, London.

RECOMMENDED CITATION

Bird Society of Singapore. (n.d.). Pheasant-tailed Jacana. Retrieved on November 17, 2024 from https://singaporebirds.com/species/pheasant-tailed-jacana.

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