India GO
Bird · Hydrophasianus chirurgus
Pheasant-tailed jacana
IUCN LC · Least concern
A long-toed waterbird that walks on floating leaves as if on solid ground. In the monsoon it grows a long curved tail and a golden nape and becomes one of the most striking birds on a city lake.
👀 How to recognise it
Scan the water-lily and lotus mats, not the open water. In breeding plumage the tail trails behind like a pennant; outside the monsoon the bird is plain and tail-less.
Where to see it
Bengaluru
The males incubate and raise the chicks alone, carrying them tucked under the wings: one of the clearest examples of reversed sex roles you can watch from a lake path.
Sankey Tank