Pheasant-tailed Jacana, a National Class II Protected Wildlife Species, Sighted in Shennongjia

On October 5, 2026, Shiyan birdwatchers Songshu, Fenghua Jingliu and Feiyan encountered a medium-sized waterbird with brownish upperparts, predominantly white underparts and long legs when it suddenly took flight from a river channel in the Changpinghe residential area along the road from Hongping Town to the airport. The birdwatchers quickly photographed it for documentation and tentatively identified it as a Pheasant-tailed Jacana. The images were later forwarded by Wei Zhenhua of Hanjiang Normal University to the Science Research Institute of Shennongjia National Park, which confirmed the bird as a subadult Pheasant-tailed Jacana, a national Class II protected wildlife species in China. The sighting marks the first record of the species in Shennongjia.A new bird record for Shennongjia — Pheasant-tailed Jacana   (Photo by Shiyan birdwatcher Feiyan)

The Pheasant-tailed Jacana (Hydrophasianus chirurgus) is a medium-sized waterbird from the family Jacanidae under the order Charadriiformes and is a national Class II protected wildlife species. Adults generally measure 39-58 cm long, including tail plumes measuring 25-35 cm. Males and females are similar in appearance and difficult to distinguish, although females are somewhat larger than males. Its plumage differs markedly between the breeding and non-breeding seasons. The white wings are conspicuous in flight. In non-breeding plumage, the crown, back and transverse band across the upper breast are grayish-brown; the chin, foreneck, supercilium, throat and belly are white, and the wings are nearly white. A black transocular stripe extends down the sides of the neck, and the lower nape is golden yellow. The primary flight feathers have particularly long tips; the tail feathers are shorter outside the breeding season. Subadults (birds between the juvenile and adult stages) resemble non-breeding adults, but have a rufous crown and a less distinct transocular stripe. Juveniles are rufous-brown overall with mottled plumage and a small tuft of black down on the crown, giving them an especially endearing appearance. The Pheasant-tailed Jacana was once a common summer visitor in China. However, severe loss of its preferred habitats, including wetlands and paddy fields (distinctive habitats covered with floating aquatic vegetation), has made the species very rare. It is now listed as a national Class II protected wildlife species.

A new bird record for Shennongjia — Pheasant-tailed Jacana   (Photo by Shiyan birdwatcher Fenghua Jingliu)

Breeding in North, Central, East, South, Southwest China, including Hainan and Taiwan, it is a locally common summer visitor or passage migrant, with occasional overwintering individuals in southern China. In Hubei Province, the species is found across most areas and is regarded as a summer visitor. As this first sighting in Shennongjia occurred in October, during the autumn migration period, and involved a single individual, the bird was most likely passing through the area. The species is therefore provisionally classified as a passage migrant in Shennongjia.(Text by Ma Guofei Translation by  Zhu Zihan)