Fun Bronze-winged Jacana Facts For Kids

The bronze-winged jacana (Metopidius indicus) is a beautiful bird with its distribution across regions of South and Southeast Asia. This winged jacana is a member of the Metopidius genus in the Jacanidae family. It is the sole member of its species.

Winged jacanas are found mainly in wetlands, marshes ponds and other water habitats. Female birds are bigger compared to males. Males undertake the dury of looking after the nest and incubation as well.

Striking features of this winged jacana include its bronze brown wings, yellow bill, dark upperparts and greenish legs.  The conservation status of this winged jacana is 'Least Concern'.

For more relatable content, check out these least tern facts and American golden plover facts for kids.

What type of animal is a bronze-winged jacana?

The bronze-winged jacana (Metopidius indicus) is a type of wader.

What class of animal does a bronze-winged jacana belong to?

The Metopidius indicus belong to the class Aves.

How many bronze-winged jacanas are there in the world?

The total specimens of this species are unknown.

Where does a bronze-winged jacana live?

This bird has a wide distribution across various regions of the Indian Subcontinent as well as Southeast Asia. However, it is absent in western Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

What is a bronze-winged jacana's habitat?

This jacana species is found mainly in low elevations in aquatic habitats. It is almost entirely sedentary, but in situations of drought and rains, it opts for seasonal dispersal to higher elevations. They are usually found in marshes, tropical wetlands, lakes and near ponds which have a good amount of vegetation.

Who do bronze-winged jacanas live with?

Jacanas are usually found living either in pairs or living alone.

How long does a bronze-winged jacana live?

Little is known about the life of this jacana bird. Unfortunately, the life expectancy of this species is not known.

How do they reproduce?

The breeding season of this jacana species begins just after the rains, observed between the months of June to September. Females are much larger, and polyandrous. Female jacanas compete with one another to maintain the harem of males within their territory. Within each female’s territory, there may be one to four breeding males with their separate territories. Male jacanas are known to defend their individual territories from the other males by visual displays. They can get aggressive and open their wings and stretch their necks out to threaten the intruder, which can ultimately lead to pecking. Females may mate with multiple male birds, which leads to competition between the breeding males. To attract females, male jacanas make a loud yelling call to catch her attention. Females seem to assess males based on their yelling, and the ones who have yelled more are chosen by the female.

The male jacana that gets the clutch of eggs in his may destroy the entire clutch if his paternity is doubtful.

The nest is made into a small platform, which is built using stems and leaves of various plants, placed together on a mat of vegetation. However, the eggs are not always laid in the nest. Sometimes they may also be laid on leaves of lotus plants.

The usual clutch size of this bird is four eggs. The eggs are of conical shape with a brown hue, adorned with multiple black random zig-zag marks.

Incubation and parenting duties and entirely left to adult males. After a month of being laid, the eggs hatch open. The young chicks are often sheltered between the parents’ wings and carried away to a safer place. At about 2.5 months old, the young chicks become independent of their father’s care and set out for their own journey.

What is their conservation status?

The conservation status of the bronze-winged jacana (Metopidius indicus) is 'Least Concern'.

What do bronze-winged jacanas look like?

These birds are large in size. They are quite similar to rail birds. They have really short tails. They appear to have a dark body, if viewed from a distance. Female birds of this species are slightly larger than males. As the name suggests, these birds have bronze-brown wings which have a slight green sheen. They also have a considerably reduced tubercular carpal spur. The upper portion of the body - head, breast and neck - are black tinted, and a white supercilium strikes out, running over the eye to the back of the jacan’s neck. The lower back as well as the tail are all chestnut hued. The tail is slightly rusty brown, having a terminal black band. The jacan’s green-yellow bill is adorned with a tomato red base. A small red-purple frontal shield extends right over the forehead. The legs are slightly green. The toes on the feet are straight and long, with an elongated longer nail situated on the hind toe.

The bronze-winged jacana chick is light brown in color, having a dark stripe down the nape. Young jacanas grow with brown upperparts, white underparts and may have a faint supercilium visible. They have bronze crowns, buff forenecks and the frontal shield is underdeveloped.

How cute are they?

We love how beautiful the bronze-winged jacana (Metopidius indicus) looks!

How do they communicate?

The bronze-winged jacana (Metopidius indicus) make 'seek-seek' sounds when alarmed

How big is a bronze-winged jacana?

The bronze-winged jacana has a body length of about 11 in (29 cm). The wing length ranges between 5.9-7.87 in (15-20 cm), the tarsus measures about 2.36-2.95 in  (6-7.5 cm) and the tail measures about 1.57-2.05 in (4-5.2 cm).

This makes them twice the body size of the great tit.

How fast can a bronze-winged jacana move?

Oops, we are not aware of the speed at which these birds of the jacana species move.

How much does a bronze-winged jacana weigh?

Females weigh between 7.76-12.35 oz (220-350 g), whereas males weigh between 5.3-7.05 oz (150-200 g).

What are the male and female names of the species?

There are no separate names for the males and females of the Metopidius genus.

What would you call a baby bronze-winged jacana?

A baby bronze-winged jacana can simply be referred to as a chick.

What do they eat?

This bird feeds on insects, worms, aquatic plants and other invertebrates floating on the surface of water.

Are they dangerous?

We do not think this jacana bird of Southeast Asia is dangerous at all.

Would they make a good pet?

We like the idea of keeping this species of Metopidius genus as our pet!

Did you know...

The epithet of this brown bird, 'indicus', is a Latin term which translates to 'from India'.

The genus name 'Metopidius' comes from an Ancient Greek term 'metōpidios', which translates to 'on the forehead'. This refers to the frontal lappet on these birds.

The bronze-winged jacana range map

The distribution of this species is across South as well as Southeast Asia. They are not found in Sri Lanka or in the western areas of Pakistan. The range of these birds include multiple countries, including India, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Pakistan, China, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia,  Indonesia, Nepal and Malaysia.

How has the bronze-winged jacana adapted to its environment?

These big jacanas forage on aquatic vegetation and plants such as lilies in ponds. They spread out their long feet, thus balancing out the weight of their body and avoiding sinking.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly animal facts for everyone to discover! Learn more about some other birds from our brewer's blackbird facts and red bird of paradise pages.

You can even occupy yourself at home by coloring on one of our free printable bronze winged jacana coloring pages.