![]() A distinct blue patch around the eyes characterises the species. The tail feathers of the male bird are consistently metallic reddish-brown coloured, ending at a darker shade towards the tips. With a white back and black underparts, the bird exposes a prominent white patch on its rump when in flight. The Himalayan Monal is also known as the ‘nine-coloured bird’ owing to the iridescent metallic-coloured plumage on the neck and wings of the adult male bird. The average female of the species is a tad smaller and lighter than its male counterpart. An average bird would measure to around 70 cm in length and between 4.4-5.2 lbs in weight, and it is considered to be a somewhat large bird. The Himalayan Monal is one of the most stunning pheasants due to its distinctive iridescent metallic-coloured plumage. At other times they might also be spotted in small groups, or large conveys, while practicing communal roosting. These pheasants usually roam single or in pairs, especially during their breeding season between April and August. The shrill curlew-like whistle of the Himalayan Monal is quite distinctive. Their tolerance to the snow is an added bonus to their lifestyle. These pheasants have heavy bills which they expertly use for digging out subterranean insects and tubers from the slopes as well. The Himalayan Monal spends most of its day foraging for insects, berries, shoots, and seeds. ( Koshy Koshy / Flickr) Behaviour of the Himalayan monal In general they maintain an altitude between 2,000 and 4,500m above the sea level. In the summers they move up to 16,000ft, wandering the grassy slopes above the tree-line. In the winter months they come down to 6,500ft. The Himalayan Monal is a high-altitude bird that practices altitudinal migration as the weather changes. Their preferred habitat also features rolling grassy slopes and cliffs, and an extensive understory of bamboo and rhododendron. These pheasants are typically found residing in the oak-conifer forests of cool upper temperate regions, such as the Himalayan hills. ![]() As a result, they have been included in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (2016), albeit as a species of ‘Least Concern’ (LC). The bird is almost extinct in Afghanistan, and their numbers are steadily reducing in other areas due to various anthropological factors. These birds are endemic to a vast belt including, Bhutan, China, Nepal, Pakistan, India (states of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttaranchal, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh), and even Myanmar. The scientific name of the bird is Lophophorus impejanus and it belongs to the Phasianidae family of the Galliformes order. The Himalayan Monal, also known as the Impeyan Pheasant or Impeyan Monal, is a variety of pheasant found in the hilly forests of the Himalayan region. Retrieved 15 June 2013.A male Himalayan Monal. Archived from the original on 7 November 2012. Wildlife of Nepal – a study of renewable resources of the Nepal Himalayas. Archived from the original (pdf) on 6 July 2013. ↑ "Himalayan Monal - Lophophorus impejanus".Archived from the original on 20 September 2013. Available on line in Biodiversity Heritage Library The next two paragraphs describe the appearance of this vibrant bird. Lady Mary Impey, the wife of the British chief judge of Bengal, was the first person to keep these pheasants in captivity. It is a pheasant of the family Phasianidae. Archived at the Wayback Machine In: IUCN 2012. The Himalayan Monal’s scientific name is Lophophorus impejanus. Before then you could tell the young male and females apart because of their larger size and black feathers, instead of white feathers, on the throat. The male chicks look like the females chicks until a little after a year when they begin to become more colorful. Their feathers also have white and black strips on certain parts. The females and the young birds ( chicks) have an overall brown appearance. Both the male and female of the species have blue circles of skin around their eyes. The males also have a crest (several feathers) on top of their heads. They have a white patch of feathers underneath the base of their tail, but the rest of their underside is black. The male Himalayan monals have bright and colorful feathers of blue, green, purple, and red. The males of this species look quite different from the females of the species. The Himalayan monal is a relatively large-sized pheasant.
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