Bronze winged Jacana (Metopidius indicus) தாமிர இறக்கை இலைக்கோழி Chennai Wetland birds Marshland of Medavakkam

 Bronze-winged Jacana  (Metopidius indicus) தாமிர இறக்கை இலைக்கோழி

Bronze-winged Jacana  (Metopidius indicus) - Photo Credit U Elaya Perumal

Scientific Name: Metopidius indicus தாமிர இறக்கை இலைக்கோழி (bronze-winged jacana) என்பது இலைக்கோழி இனத்தைச் சேர்ந்த ஒரு பறவையாகும். இப்பறவை இந்தியாவிலும், தென்கிழக்காசியாவிலும் காணப்படுகிறது. பொதுவாகப் பார்த்தால் இது நீலத் தாழைக்கோழி போல காணப்படுகிறது. கௌதாரியின் அளவு உள்ளது. இதன் தலை, கழுத்து, மார்பு ஆகியன மினுமினுக்கும் கறுப்பு நிறமுடையதாகவும், இறகுகளும், முதுகும் தாமிர நிறத்தில் இருக்கும்.

Immature Bronze-winged Jacana  (Metopidius indicus) - Photo Credit U Elaya Perumal

Description: Long legs and very long toes; glossy black head, neck, and underparts; Glossy bronze-green upperparts, prominent white supercilium, yellow bill with blue/ red frontal shield, rump, tail, and under tail coverts are chestnuts in color.

The bronze-winged jacana (Metopidius indicus) is a wader in the family Jacanidae. It is found across South and Southeast Asia and is the sole species in the genus Metopidius. Like other jacanas it forages on lilies and other floating aquatic vegetation, the long feet spreading out its weight and preventing sinking. The sexes are alike but females are slightly larger and are polyandrous, maintaining a harem of males during the breeding season in the monsoon rains. Males maintain territories, with one male in the harem chosen to incubate the eggs and take care of the young. When threatened, young chicks may be carried to safety by the male under his wings.

Adult and Immature Bronze-winged Jacana  (Metopidius indicus) - Photo Credit U Elaya Perumal

Scientific classification

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Aves

Order: Charadriiformes

Family: Jacanidae

Genus: Metopidius Wagler, 1832

Species: M. indicus

Binomial name:  Metopidius indicus (Latham, 1790)

One adult and three Immature Bronze-winged Jacana  (Metopidius indicus) observed near to Annakkili Amma Research Institute (AARI), Sivagami Nagar, Medavakkam, Chennai-600100. Medavakkam wetland birds. (Photo Credit U Elaya Perumal).

This bird made me confuse a lot actually. In the initial days, I saw this bird along with Red-wattled Lapwing and I missed noticing the morphological differences between the both. after some days one day, I noticed that the stomach was full black whereas the lapwing had a white stomach. then I started to identify the organism and thought it would be also lapwing species. so I compared all lapwing species but none was matching then only I thought it would be different species and looked for other specimens and identified as Bronze-winged Jacana. 

One could clearly see the Bronze colored wings and white line on the head, and all other parts are full black in colour (Photo Credit U Elaya Perumal).

This bird walks on the floating plants, and search for their food often they lift the plants with their bills. 

A gangly inhabitant of well-vegetated wetlands, especially ponds and lakes with floating vegetation. The adult’s dark neck and bright white eyebrows are unmistakable. Juvenile’s white cheek and orangish neck can lead to confusion with Pheasant-tailed Jacana; look for Bronze-winged’s wholly brown wings.

Even-though we saw a lot of Bronze-winged jacanas, we could not see any trace of eggs or Juvenile birds, but nearly 4-5 Immature Jacanas were there every day...