HIMALAYAN MONAL PHEASANT SOUND PATCH
The males also have a large white patch on the rump. The tail feathers are uniformly rufous being darker towards the tips. The adult male has a long, metallic-green crest, much like a peacock, changeable reddish copper on the back and sides of the neck and a prominent white back and rump while in flight. The male’s impressive display features bowing and vigorous waving of the rufous tail, but it is the iridescent plumage on the wings and neck that give the bird its reputation as the “nine-colored bird” consisting of interspersing mix of metallic colors of green, purple, red and blue. Females tend to be slightly smaller and lighter. It is a relatively large sized bird averaging 2.3 feet (~70 cm) in length, the weight of males and females range between 4.4 and 5.2 lbs (1980 gram – 2 380 gram respectively). These pheasants are amongst the most beautiful pheasants due to their striking metallic-colored plumage. Males had been under heavy hunting pressure for its crest feather, which was used to ornament hats of Himachal men, until 1982 when legal hunting was banned in the state.Ī recent survey carried out in Arunachal Pradesh discovered a new type of Lophophorus species and its identity, though believed to be a subspecies of Sclater’s monal or a potential new species, is yet to be confirmed. The status of this pheasant is still fairly secure, although its cousin the Chinese Monal is classified as threatened due to poaching and other anthropogenic factors.
This species is considered stable throughout much of its range, but may have been eliminated in Afghanistan.
Outside that season, they tend to form large coveys and involve in communal roosting. They are usually seen in pairs during the breeding season, which is from April to August. These pheasants exhibit great tolerance to snow and are often seen digging in it foraging for food They seem to exhibit clear and fluctuating altitudinal migration moving down as low as 6,500 feet in winter and up to 16,000 feet in the summer. These pheasants prefer cool upper temperate oak-conifer forests interspersed with open grassy slopes, cliffs and alpine meadows mostly at 9,000 to 10,000 ft elevations. There is also a report of its occurrence in Myanmar. They can be found in Bhutan and countries of Pakistan, India (states of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttaranchal, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh), Nepal, and Southern Tibet. They are endemic to the Himalayas, eastern Afghanistan to western China. The Himalayan Monal Pheasant ( Lophophorus impejanus) is also regionally known as the Impeyan Monal or Impeyan Pheasant. Whilst they can fly, they prefer to run: but if startled they can suddenly burst upwards at great speed, with a distinctive wing sound.Keeping and Breeding the Himalayan Monal Pheasant They feed on the ground on grain, leaves and invertebrates, but roost in trees at night. Consequently, little is known of their behaviour in the wild. In places where self-supporting feral populations have become established, such as England, the two species will interbreed to produce hybrids.ĭespite the male's showy appearance, these birds are very difficult to see in their natural habitat, which is dense, dark, young conifer forests with sparse undergrowth. The golden pheasant is native to western China, and Lady Amherst's pheasant to Tibet and westernmost China, but both have been widely introduced elsewhere. These are species which have spectacularly plumaged males. The genus name is from Ancient Greek khrusolophos, "with golden crest". Chrysolophus is a genus of the pheasant family of birds.