Lady Cassanova
>(Greater Painted Snipe by James Ooi � Penang MNS Homepage)
Recently I attended a talk-cum-slide show on local birds by Mr. Oon Swee Hock, our local photographer. To my delight, he started off with the Greater Painted Snipe, a wader, which immediately captivated me.
One point of interest is the bird itself. The plumage is extremely beautiful and it looks as if the colours had been painted onto the feathers. I can recall the time when I had the opportunity to hold a pair in my hands and examine them. It really deserves the name "painted" added to it! There are other different species that share the same common name; the painted stork, painted partridge, painted quail, painted parakeet, painted bunting and the list goes on and on. They probably have the same effect on them too. It is one of only two painted snipes found in the world and together with the South American Painted Snipe, it is placed in a family of its own. The Greater Painted Snipe occurs from Africa, through India, Japan, South-east Asia and down south to Australia.
Despite its conspicuous plumage, it is a difficult bird to spot. Its secretive nature is due to its crepuscular habit (active mainly at dawn and dusk) but sometimes can be seen feeding in the open (especially at paddy fields) later in the day. The peculiar feature of this bird is that the roles of the male and female are reversed. One would have easily mistaken the female for the male as she is slightly larger in size and more colourful The polyandrous female will take in a number of mates and she is the one that initiates the courting. She may actually get into fights to defend her mates from the advances of her rivals!
The reversal of roles is very rare in birds. It only occurs in a few waders like the jacana and the phalarope and other ground nesters as well. Could it be that there is a surplus of males in the population for females to mate with? After mating, the female just lay her eggs in a nest built by the male, the poor male also has to incubate the eggs and feed the chicks by himself!* Once the eggs are laid, she is off to find another mate and start all over again. She does that with incredible speed too. Often before the first clutch hatches, she has already laid her next clutch.**
*I don't agree with James that the male is to be pitied - "poor" he said. What about the "poor" female which has to lay so many clutches of eggs. Without her untiring effort this beautiful bird would be extinct by now.
**Well done. Good for her!
Ed.
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Created on 19th Dec 1998. Last modified on