Pheasant-tailed Jacana
Hydrophasianus chirurgus
- Family
- Jacanas (Jacanidae)
- Order
- Charadriiformes
Overview
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.
Summary from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Range and habitat
Breeds northern Pakistan eastward in sub-Himalayan region to southeastern China and Taiwan, and southward to southern India, Sri Lanka, southeastern Asia, and Philippines; winters sparsely southward to Malayan Peninsula, Sumatra, Java, and Bali.
Range description: AviList Global Avian Checklist.
Sources and further reading
- Wikipedia: Pheasant-tailed jacana
- eBird: sightings, maps and photos
- xeno-canto: sound recordings
- Birds of the World: full species account (subscription)
- BirdLife DataZone: status and threats
- IUCN Red List (threat status)
- AviList global checklist (taxonomy)
Last updated September 29, 2026.
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