The Pheasant Tailed Jacanas of Pallikaranai

I remember when I first saw the Jacana walk on water (well almost), it just blew my mind, and I spent hours at Dungarpur just observing their spidery legs and jerky movements.  

The pheasant-tailed jacana (Hydrophasianus chirurgus) is quite common in the wetlands of Chennai, and always make for interesting sightings as they dart on top of the floating vegetation.

Mr Ramanan is a regular Sunday visitor to the marshes of Pallikaranai and Sholinganallur and has documented their courtship and breeding over several years. The females are larger and more colourful than the male and are polyandrous.  it is the males that incubate the eggs!

Mr Ramanan notes, "In 2016 in the month of June I had come across two active nests of Pheasant Tailed Jacanas closer to the road side itself. The female is polyandrous and the male takes care of entire breeding of the chicks."

Mr Ramanan noted that the smaller male chased the female with which he had previously mated, 

went underneath the bird, pushed it from the squatting position.  it looked as if the male was suspicious of the female, and did not want another clutch of eggs of another male in its territory?

In another instant, Mr Ramanan observed the male take the chicks under its wing, when a predator was sighted.  The alarm call had been raised by the female.

This is the male's protection posture, with all the chicks underneath, looking like a single adult with eight legs!

Mr Ramanan captured this picture of the female's frightened posture, with body erect but tail down.  (And do see those claws!)

"Once the threat disappeared they started feeding as usual."

"The breeding plumages of the sickle shaped tail with predominant amount of chocolate-brown colour and in flight a large amount white, was observed from the month of May to June this year. On one occasion when the early morning sun rays peeped through the clouds, it painted the female Pheasant-Tailed Jacana with the golden touch of rays which really accentuated its silky golden coloured nape."

Mr Ramanan continued his watch of the PTJs through the summer of 2016 and 2017.  "The sign of chasing all other birds like white breasted water-hen and purple moorhen, from their territory in the month of July, indicated that it has already laid the eggs.  As expected the first chick emerged on the 4th of August, and were seen with the male Pheasant-Tailed Jacana which had shed the tail by that time. I was expecting for some more chicks on subsequent days but it was not to be and the male has only one chick as on 11th of August. On 9th of August again came across the protection display. This time just like last year the female raised the alarm call when a common kite hovered over it and the male with the feeble call attracted the chick and took it under its wings.   The female immediately hovered over and chased the Common Kite. It is clear from the above that female also played an active role while breeding in case of threat, apart from the role of guarding their territory."

Incubating male seen at Sholinganallur.

Notice the large brown eggs! PTJ females usually lay a clutch of four.

When a Shikra was sighted, the male PTJ aggressively left its clutch unguarded and chased the predator.

Returning after a successful chase!

With his keen eye, patience and regular documentation, Mr Ramanan has been able to put together an entire series on the breeding of the PTJs, which makes for a fascinating account.

The marshes and wetlands of Chennai - important and precious for so many creatures big and small.

The teak tree butterfly garden

Tectona grandis.  In flower.  Our neighbour's garden

October 2nd

October brings flowers in plenty to our neighbour's teak tree.  I love to watch the tree.  I watch from our bedroom and I watch from our balcony.  Sometimes it is a Drongo that provides entertainment,  quite often the rose-ringed parakeets perch on the uppermost branch and screech indignantly while squirrels scamper up and down the tree trunk.  Today, it was the butterflies and bees show that I binge watched.

All through the day the Common Emigrants flitted ceaselessly from flower to flower, up and down, side to side.  The window frames seemed to be filled with these wandering whites.  As I followed them with my binoculars, a  Crimson Rose fluttered into view, its flight less rushed and frenzied as it gently alighted on a  flower. A light breeze rustled those large teak leaves and it flew on.

Then there was a blur of yellow, a pair of Tawny Costers and a bunch of Common Leopards flitted around on the left.  More white Common Emigrants to the right, and among them sat one Chocolate  Pansy, with its ragged wing edges, slowly circling on the same flower, unlike the other butterflies.

It was the turns of the blues then, a bunch of Blue Tigers and Glassy Tigers passed by.  They did not seem terribly interested and moved on quickly.  Teak nectar was not their favourite drink maybe? A Common Crow also drifted by, but seemed disinterested with the drinks on offer and floated away.

More Common Emigrants, yellow ones and whiter ones.  Oh wait, that yellow one opened its wings, could it be the Yellow Orange Tip (Ixias pyrene).  These butterflies generally come in after the monsoons, so have the rains brought them?   More whites, but these had black edges.  With Bhanu's Field Guide I identified them as Common Albatross Appias albina.

And into the "garden" came a much larger butterfly, solitary, green and black, fluttering its wings even as it alighted on a flower.  it was beautiful and striking, and was unfamiliar to me.  Flick through the book, peer through the binoculars, and now its gone behind the large teak leaf, hmmm a swallowtail for sure, no not a peacock, oh its back in view, I really need to learn to read Tamil, scan the book once again.  Could it be a Tailed Jay?  I need to verify.  Search in Duck Duck Go Go.   Graphium agamemnon, common and not threatened, more frequent post monsoon.  And its host plant is the Polyalthia!  Maybe that's what it was.  Nothing else fitted the bill.

The enduring Teak
and the ephemeral butterfly
Entwined.

Oct 3rd

Common Jezebels this morning, at the tree.

Oct 4th

And a pair of Danaid Eggfly were having a leisurely sip.

Oct 7th

I continue to see new species.  Today, two Common Jays chased each other from flower to flower.  At the crown, Plain Tigers fluttered through the blooms.