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Young World
Devout fathers
MADHAV GADGIL
A pheasant tailed Jacana
Of the gender femina
Gifts lots of chicks
To each boy friend she picks!
In the breeding season, peacocks and many other male birds don fine feathers to strut before their mates, who retain their normal, inconspicuous plumage. But there are striking exceptions, one of the most notable being that of the Pheasant-tailed Jacana. Its dull brown and white dress allows it to blend perfectly with the drying lily pads of a village pond during the non-breeding season. But come monsoon, both the sexes are transformed into strikingly handsome white and chocolate brown, black and golden yellow creatures with a long sickle-shaped tail. If anything, the female looks more spectacular, being bigger in size than her mate. Over the breeding season she does a round of boyfriends, gifting each with a clutch of eggs, before moving on to fresh pastures.
Meanwhile the males incubate the eggs and then feed and protect the chicks, perchance to welcome their old girl friend back after the young have left to lay yet another clutch for them to look after. At least this one bird species has utterly banished male chauvinism!
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