The pheasant-tailed jacana queen and her golden grandchildren love each other dearly; a bird-loving couple in Meinong rent wetland to protect the ecosystem

Meinong Lake is the second-largest lake in Kaohsiung City after Chengcing Lake. Embraced by the mountains to the north, its scenery shifts with the seasons, making it the area's most important tourism resource.

The pheasant-tailed jacana, known as the "fairy of the rippling waves," used to come to Meinong Lake mostly in autumn and winter to feed and roost. But in early May of the year before last (2017), pheasant-tailed jacanas in beautiful summer plumage began appearing by the lake, with breeding feathers in a mix of black, white and yellow: the head and foreneck white, a golden-yellow patch on the hindneck surrounded by fine black lines and white feathers, plus a slender, elegant long tail that draws a great deal of attention.

To let the pheasant-tailed jacana settle down and make a life in Meinong, a retired teacher couple, Liu Hsiao-shen and Huang Shu-mei, rented 1 jia of wetland. "The pheasant-tailed jacana rewilding in Guantian was very successful, and Meinong Lake should also have a chance to promote environmental restoration, so that the pheasant-tailed jacana is willing to stay and continue to reproduce in Meinong!"

The pheasant-tailed jacana's diverse family setup: one wife, many husbands

The pheasant-tailed jacana can be called the bird world's best spokesperson for "one wife, many husbands." Every year from April to September is the pheasant-tailed jacana breeding season. After the female completes mating and laying eggs with a male, the work of incubating the eggs and raising the chicks falls to the male, while the female continues to pair, mate and lay eggs with other males. Within a single breeding season, it is very common for one female to move among several males.

This year by Meinong Lake, there are already three pheasant-tailed jacana nests, all love nests built by the same mother bird and three different father birds. At present, the mother bird and a fourth male are in an ambiguous stage, but she inevitably runs into trouble from the first three fathers, who keep pestering the mother bird for attention and mating. At such times, people birdwatching by the wetland will see the amusing sight of the mother bird spreading her wings to drive off and threaten the father birds.