Preserving the Pheasant-tailed Jacanas around Meinong Lake
Preserving the Pheasant-tailed Jacanas around Meinong Lake
◎Written by Winnie
◎English translation by Hou Ya-ting
◎Photos by Carter
The Executive Yuan's Council of Agriculture has listed Pheasant-tailed jacanas as rare and valuable wild animals. They can be identified by their pronounced elongated tail feathers; from autumn to winter, they migrate to Meinong Lake and its surrounding wetlands. Pheasant-tailed jacanas are a polyandrous breed; therefore, females usually have multiple male partners. They usually mate between April and September. Although the females lay the eggs, it is the male birds that are responsible for hatching and caring for the young.
Retired couple Liou Siao-shen and Huang Shu-mei have been watching the Pheasant-tailed jacanas around the lake for many years. In January 2017, they began renting the wetlands around the lake to preserve the birds' habitat and make sure they had a safe place to breed. The couple then enlisted volunteers and together they worked on a soil preservation project while planting 1,500 floating water chestnuts.
That year the Pheasant-tailed jacanas successfully hatched two young. This greatly encouraged the volunteers, and the couple increased their work in spreading awareness about endangered birds. This year, they hope to inform more people about the jacanas in the Meinong area and increase participation in their preservation projects. Mr. Liou Siao-shen has also begun fund raising. He hopes to increase wetland preservation and create an even safer habitat for the birds.
Since June, volunteers have observed female Pheasant-tailed jacanas standing on the floating water chestnuts while searching for food. They have also recorded ten infant jacanas peeking out from under male jacanas' wings. The volunteers were thrilled to see that jacanas were beginning to thrive again in the region. Mr. Jhong Yi-sin, Chairperson of Pheasant-tailed jacanas Meinong Preservation Society, was glad that volunteers had been observing and recording more jacanas and Ms. Huang Shu-mei also felt very relieved that larger populations of jacanas were coming back.
The Pheasant-tailed Jacanas Preservation Society has now planted many aquatic plants around Meinong Lake and its surrounding wetlands, including Euryale ferox (prickly water lily), wild lotus and water chestnuts. Due to these efforts, more frogs and Chinese strip-necked turtles have also come back to the region. Dragonfly larvae, damselflies, and dragonflies are also gradually increasing. This is all due to the society's efforts in preserving the environment and making sure there is an abundancy of food. The Pheasant-tailed jacanas preservation society has been leading in the efforts to preserve jacanas' habitat in Meinong. Kaohsiung Wild Bird Society has also been joining these efforts by working on wetland adoption and preservation projects. They too hope to increase the numbers of Pheasant-tailed jacanas. Thanks to these preservation projects, Meinong's wetlands now flourish with aquatic plants and wildlife.
