The pheasant-tailed jacana (Hydrophasianus chirurgus) – also known as the water-pheasant – is distinct because it has different plumages for the breeding and non-breeding seasons – in breeding plumage, the central tail feathers grow very long, resembling a pheasant's tail. A wader belonging to the family of jacanas, Jacanidae, it is capable of swimming, although it usually walks on the vegetation. The only member of its monotypic genus, it is found on the Indian subcontinent and from Central China through South East Asia, in Afghanistan and as far as Java and the Philippines. The male pheasant-tailed jacana is a model parent. Abandoned by his mate after she lays her eggs, he accepts sole responsibility for both incubation and rearing his young brood.
