siddharthx
20180324-0I7A7410
Bronze-winged Jacana & Common Moorhen - Part 3: The Chase!
Bronze-winged Jacana
The bronze-winged jacana (Metopidius indicus) is a wader in the family Jacanidae. It is the only member of the genus Metopidius. It has huge feet and claws which enables it to walk on floating vegetation in shallow lakes that are its preferred habitat. It is found in south and east Asia within the tropical zone.
The bronze-winged jacana breeds in India and southeast Asia. It is sedentary apart from seasonal dispersion. It lays four black-marked brown eggs in a floating nest. The males, as in some other wader families like the phalaropes, take responsibility for incubation.
These are conspicuous and unmistakable birds. They are 29 cm (11 in) long, but the females are larger than the males. They are mainly black, although the inner wings are very dark brown and the tail is red. There is a striking white eyestripe. The yellow bill extends up as a red coot-like frontal shield, and the legs and very long toes are grey.
Young birds have brown upperparts. Their underparts are white, with a buff foreneck.
The bronze-winged jacana's feeds on insects and other invertebrates picked from the floating vegetation or the water's surface.
Call is a wheezy piping seek-seek-seek given mostly in alarm.
When forced they sometimes choose to hide by submerging themselves. The male may carry chicks between the wings and body.
The bronze-winged jacana was formally described by the English ornithologist John Latham in 1790 and given the binomial name Parra indicus. Latham had earlier included the species in a supplement to his A General Synopsis of Birds but had not coined a scientific name. The present genus Metopidius was introduced by the German zoologist Johann Georg Wagler in 1832. The bronze-winged jacana is the only species within the genus. The name Metopidius is from the Ancient Greek word metōpidios meaning "on the forehead". The specific epithet indicus is the Latin word for "Indian". There are no recognised subspecies.
Common Moorhen
The common moorhen (Gallinula chloropus) (also known as the waterhen and as the swamp chicken) is a bird species in the family Rallidae. It is distributed across many parts of the Old World.
The common moorhen lives around well-vegetated marshes, ponds, canals and other wetlands. The species is not found in the polar regions or many tropical rainforests. Elsewhere it is likely the most common rail species, except for the Eurasian coot in some regions.
The closely related common gallinule of the New World has been recognized as a separate species by most authorities, starting with the American Ornithologists' Union and the International Ornithological Committee in 2011.
The moorhen is a distinctive species, with dark plumage apart from the white undertail, yellow legs and a red frontal shield. The young are browner and lack the red shield. The frontal shield of the adult has a rounded top and fairly parallel sides; the tailward margin of the red unfeathered area is a smooth waving line. In the related common gallinule of the Americas, the frontal shield has a fairly straight top and is less wide towards the bill, giving a marked indentation to the back margin of the red area.
The common moorhen gives a wide range of gargling calls and will emit loud hisses when threatened. A midsized to large rail, it can range from 30 to 38 cm (12 to 15 in) in length and span 50 to 62 cm (20 to 24 in) across the wings. The body mass of this species can range from 192 to 500 g (6.8 to 17.6 oz).
This is a common breeding bird in marsh environments, well-vegetated lakes and even in city parks. Populations in areas where the waters freeze, such as eastern Europe, will migrate to more temperate climes.
This species will consume a wide variety of vegetable material and small aquatic creatures. They forage beside or in the water, sometimes walking on lilypads or upending in the water to feed. They are often secretive, but can become tame in some areas. Despite loss of habitat in parts of its range, the common moorhen remains plentiful and widespread.
The birds are territorial during breeding season. The nest is a basket built on the ground in dense vegetation. Laying starts in spring, between mid-March and mid-May in Northern hemisphere temperate regions. About 8 eggs are usually laid per female early in the season; a brood later in the year usually has only 5–8 or fewer eggs. Nests may be re-used by different females. Incubation lasts about three weeks. Both parents incubate and feed the young. These fledge after 40–50 days, become independent usually a few weeks thereafter, and may raise their first brood the next spring. When threatened, the young may cling to the parents' body, after which the adult birds fly away to safety, carrying their offspring with them.
20180324-0I7A7410
Bronze-winged Jacana & Common Moorhen - Part 3: The Chase!
Bronze-winged Jacana
The bronze-winged jacana (Metopidius indicus) is a wader in the family Jacanidae. It is the only member of the genus Metopidius. It has huge feet and claws which enables it to walk on floating vegetation in shallow lakes that are its preferred habitat. It is found in south and east Asia within the tropical zone.
The bronze-winged jacana breeds in India and southeast Asia. It is sedentary apart from seasonal dispersion. It lays four black-marked brown eggs in a floating nest. The males, as in some other wader families like the phalaropes, take responsibility for incubation.
These are conspicuous and unmistakable birds. They are 29 cm (11 in) long, but the females are larger than the males. They are mainly black, although the inner wings are very dark brown and the tail is red. There is a striking white eyestripe. The yellow bill extends up as a red coot-like frontal shield, and the legs and very long toes are grey.
Young birds have brown upperparts. Their underparts are white, with a buff foreneck.
The bronze-winged jacana's feeds on insects and other invertebrates picked from the floating vegetation or the water's surface.
Call is a wheezy piping seek-seek-seek given mostly in alarm.
When forced they sometimes choose to hide by submerging themselves. The male may carry chicks between the wings and body.
The bronze-winged jacana was formally described by the English ornithologist John Latham in 1790 and given the binomial name Parra indicus. Latham had earlier included the species in a supplement to his A General Synopsis of Birds but had not coined a scientific name. The present genus Metopidius was introduced by the German zoologist Johann Georg Wagler in 1832. The bronze-winged jacana is the only species within the genus. The name Metopidius is from the Ancient Greek word metōpidios meaning "on the forehead". The specific epithet indicus is the Latin word for "Indian". There are no recognised subspecies.
Common Moorhen
The common moorhen (Gallinula chloropus) (also known as the waterhen and as the swamp chicken) is a bird species in the family Rallidae. It is distributed across many parts of the Old World.
The common moorhen lives around well-vegetated marshes, ponds, canals and other wetlands. The species is not found in the polar regions or many tropical rainforests. Elsewhere it is likely the most common rail species, except for the Eurasian coot in some regions.
The closely related common gallinule of the New World has been recognized as a separate species by most authorities, starting with the American Ornithologists' Union and the International Ornithological Committee in 2011.
The moorhen is a distinctive species, with dark plumage apart from the white undertail, yellow legs and a red frontal shield. The young are browner and lack the red shield. The frontal shield of the adult has a rounded top and fairly parallel sides; the tailward margin of the red unfeathered area is a smooth waving line. In the related common gallinule of the Americas, the frontal shield has a fairly straight top and is less wide towards the bill, giving a marked indentation to the back margin of the red area.
The common moorhen gives a wide range of gargling calls and will emit loud hisses when threatened. A midsized to large rail, it can range from 30 to 38 cm (12 to 15 in) in length and span 50 to 62 cm (20 to 24 in) across the wings. The body mass of this species can range from 192 to 500 g (6.8 to 17.6 oz).
This is a common breeding bird in marsh environments, well-vegetated lakes and even in city parks. Populations in areas where the waters freeze, such as eastern Europe, will migrate to more temperate climes.
This species will consume a wide variety of vegetable material and small aquatic creatures. They forage beside or in the water, sometimes walking on lilypads or upending in the water to feed. They are often secretive, but can become tame in some areas. Despite loss of habitat in parts of its range, the common moorhen remains plentiful and widespread.
The birds are territorial during breeding season. The nest is a basket built on the ground in dense vegetation. Laying starts in spring, between mid-March and mid-May in Northern hemisphere temperate regions. About 8 eggs are usually laid per female early in the season; a brood later in the year usually has only 5–8 or fewer eggs. Nests may be re-used by different females. Incubation lasts about three weeks. Both parents incubate and feed the young. These fledge after 40–50 days, become independent usually a few weeks thereafter, and may raise their first brood the next spring. When threatened, the young may cling to the parents' body, after which the adult birds fly away to safety, carrying their offspring with them.