Cheer pheasant
{{short description|Species of bird}}
{{speciesbox
| name = Cheer pheasant
| image = Catreus wallichii -Kyoto Zoo-Japan-8a.jpg
| image_caption = At Kyoto Zoo, Japan
| status = VU
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| status2 = CITES_A1
| status2_system = CITES
| status2_ref = {{Cite web|title=Appendices {{!}} CITES|url=https://cites.org/eng/app/appendices.php|access-date=2022-01-14|website=cites.org}}
| genus = Catreus
| parent_authority = Cabanis, 1851
| display_parents = 2
| species = wallichii
| authority = (Hardwicke, 1827)
}}
The cheer pheasant (Catreus wallichii), also known as Wallich's pheasant or chir pheasant, is a vulnerable species of the pheasant family, Phasianidae. It is the only member in the genus Catreus. The scientific name commemorates Danish botanist Nathaniel Wallich.
Description
File:Cheer Pheasant (male).JPG
File:Cheer Pheasant pair at winter village of lata on the periphery of Nanda Devi National Park.jpg
These birds lack the color and brilliance of most pheasants, with buffy gray plumage and long, gray crests. Its long tail has 18 feathers and the central tail feathers are much longer and the colour is mainly gray and brown. The female is slightly smaller in overall size.
Behaviour and ecology
Males are monogamous. They breed on steep cliffs during summer with a clutch of 10 to 11 eggs.Baker, EC Stuart (1918) The game birds of India, Burmay and Ceylon. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 26(1):1-5 [https://archive.org/details/journalofbombayn26bomb scan]
In studies conducted in upper Beas Valley, cheer pheasant was found to be sensitive to human disturbance.Jolli, Virat & Pandit, M. K. (2011). " Influence of Human Disturbance on the Abundance of Himalayan Pheasant (Aves, Galliformes) in the Temperate Forest of Western Himalaya, India". Vestnik Zoologii 45 (6): e40-e47. {{doi|10.2478/v10058-011-0035-0}}
Habitat and distribution
The cheer pheasant is distributed in the highlands and scrublands of the Himalaya region of India, Nepal and Pakistan. They are found mainly in western Nepal, Uttarakhand (Kumaon and Garhwal), Himachal Pradesh (Shimla, Kullu and Chamba), and Jammu and Kashmir in northwestern India, and Hazara division, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in northern Pakistan. Surveys in 1981 and 2003 in the Dhorpatan area of western Nepal established 70 calling sites, suggesting substantial numbers exist in this area (about 200 birds).Lelliott, A.D.(1981) Cheer Pheasants in west-central Nepal. World Pheasant Assoc. 6:89-95{{Cite web |url=http://chinabird.org/news/TRAGOPAN%2019.pdf |title=PSG Project round-up |work=Newsletter of the WPA/BirdLife/Species Survival Commission |publisher=Pheasant Specialist Group |access-date=14 January 2011}}{{Cite web
|url=http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/sitefactsheet.php?id=14328
|title=Dhorpatan Hunting Reserve
|work=birdlife.org
|publisher=Birdlife International
|access-date=14 January 2011
}} In another survey in 2010, cheer pheasants were detected in 21 calling sites in Kullu district of Himachal Pradesh.{{cite journal|last1=Jolli|first1=Virat|last2=Srivastav|first2=A|last3=Thakur|first3=S|year=2011|title=Patch occupancy for cheer pheasant Catreus wallichii in the Great Himalayan National Park Conservation Area|journal=International Journal of Galliformes Conservation|volume=2|pages=74–81|url=http://www.pheasant.org.uk/uploads/Pages_74-81_Joli_et_al_Patch_occupancy_for_Cheer_Pheasant.pdf|access-date=10 December 2012|archive-date=5 June 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140605051227/http://www.pheasant.org.uk/uploads/Pages_74-81_Joli_et_al_Patch_occupancy_for_Cheer_Pheasant.pdf|url-status=dead}} They are found mainly above 6000 feet altitude and up to 10000 feet in summer.
Status and conservation
Due to ongoing habitat loss, small population size, and hunting in some areas, the cheer pheasant is evaluated as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. It is listed on Appendix I of CITES.{{Cite web|url=http://www.cites.org/eng/app/appendices.shtml |title=Appendices I, II and III |work=cites.org |publisher=CITES |access-date=8 December 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081116124133/http://www.cites.org/eng/app/appendices.shtml |archive-date=16 November 2008 }} Attempts to reintroduce captive-bred cheer pheasants in Pakistan have been unsuccessful.{{Cite web
|url=http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/species/index.html?action=SpcHTMDetails.asp&sid=266&m=0
|title=Cheer Pheasant Catreus wallichi
|work=birdlife.org
|publisher=Birdlife International
|access-date=8 December 2010
}}
Gallery
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- ARKive - [https://web.archive.org/web/20060619193056/http://www.arkive.org/species/GES/birds/Catreus_wallichi/ images and movies of the Cheer Pheasant (Catreus wallichi)]
- {{EBirdSpecies|chephe1|Cheer Pheasant}}
{{Phasianidae}}
{{Pangalliformes|Pha.|state=collapsed}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q385891}}