Bronze-Winged Jacana

The bronze-winged jacana is a wader found across South and South-east Asia, the sole species in its genus, mainly at low elevations. It is a rail-like, large, short-tailed bird, about 29cm long, that looks dark at a distance except for the supercilium. The wings are bronzy-brown with a green sheen, and the lower back and tail coverts are chestnut. Like other jacanas it forages on lilies and other floating aquatic vegetation, balancing on its long feet and legs (Wikipedia, general species account).

The sexes are alike but females are slightly larger and are polyandrous, keeping a harem of males during the breeding season in the monsoon rains (June to September in India). Males hold territories, and one male in the harem is chosen to incubate the eggs and care for the young. The usual clutch is four conical, glossy brown eggs with black zig-zag markings, which hatch in 29 days (Wikipedia, general species account).