Hydrophasianus chirurgus
Silhouette: Burton Robert, USFWS · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~80% in a week >90%
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.
The pheasant-tailed jacana is conspicuous and unmistakable. It is the longest species in the jacana family when the tail streamers are included. The breeding plumage is marked by the elongated central tail feathers that given the bird its name. The body is chocolate brown, the face is white, and the back of the crown is black with white stripes running down the sides of the... Wikipedia →
Call0:05
China · 2026
© Bo Shunqi 薄顺奇 · XC1175052 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Song0:30
Sri Lanka · 2014
© Andrew Spencer · XC190863 · CC BY-NC-SA 3.0
Recording1:00
Taiwan · 2013
© Hong · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Keoladeo National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 2 | Yala National Park | 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka | |
| 3 | Kaziranga National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 4 | Minneriya National Park | 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka | |
| 5 | Wilpattu National Park | 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka | |
| 6 | Ranthambore National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 7 | Udawalawe National Park | 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka | |
| 8 | Satpura National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 9 | Bandhavgarh National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 10 | Nagarhole National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 11 | Manas National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 12 | Sundarbans National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 13 | Kanha National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 14 | Jim Corbett National Park | 🇮🇳 India |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Indore | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 2 | Thiruvananthapuram | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 3 | Vasai-Virar | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 4 | Ponnani | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 5 | Durg | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 6 | Berhampore | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 7 | Kochi | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 8 | Nagpur | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 9 | Colombo [Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte] | 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka | |
| 10 | Thrissur | 🇮🇳 India |
Likely
About 40% of wildlife watchers report a Pheasant-tailed Jacana sighting in Keoladeo National Park on a given day, based on 920 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 69th most-seen of the 278 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 80%, and over a week to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
March
In that month about 60% of wildlife watchers report a Pheasant-tailed Jacana in Keoladeo National Park on a given day, against about 10% in June and July, the lowest months. That is one of Keoladeo National Park's driest months, with about 20 mm of rain against 240 mm in July.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Pheasant-tailed Jacana sightings with a recorded time, and about 7 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Yes
Of the 14 parks where we can rate Pheasant-tailed Jacana sightings, Keoladeo National Park has the highest daily chance: about 40%. Next come Yala National Park (Sri Lanka, about 30%) and Kaziranga National Park (India, about 20%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Pheasant-tailed Jacana is recorded against all the birds logged in Keoladeo National Park (920 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
