Hydrophasianus chirurgus
Silhouette: Burton Robert, USFWS · PhyloPic
In 3 days <5% in a week ~10%
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 |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Pheasant-tailed Jacana sighting in Nagarhole National Park on a given day, based on 19 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 234th most-seen of the 272 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to under 5%, and over a week to about 10%, if each day is a fresh chance.
Any time of year
In every month with enough records, under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Pheasant-tailed Jacana in Nagarhole National Park on a given day, so our monthly data shows no clear season.
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.
10th of 14
Of the 14 parks where we can rate Pheasant-tailed Jacana sightings, Nagarhole National Park ranks 10th at under 5%. The best odds are in Keoladeo National Park (India, about 40%), 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 Nagarhole National Park (19 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.
