Himalayan monal
{{short description|Species of bird}}
{{speciesbox
| status = LC
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| status2 = CITES_A1
| status2_system = CITES
| image = Himalayan Monal Adult Male East Sikkim Sikkim India.png
| image_caption = Male
| image2 = Himalayan Monal Adult Female Tungnath Rudraprayag Uttarakhand India 14.06.2013.jpg
| image2_caption = Female
| genus = Lophophorus
| species = impejanus
| authority = (Latham, 1790)
}}
The Himalayan monal (Lophophorus impejanus), also called Impeyan monal and Impeyan pheasant, is a pheasant native to Himalayan forests and shrublands at elevations of {{cvt|2100-4500|m}}. It is part of the family Phasianidae and is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List.
It is the national bird of Nepal, where it is known as the danphe or danfe,{{Cite web |url=https://thehimalayantimes.com/entertainment/animal-stories-danfe/|title=Animal stories: Danfe |date=2007 |website=The Himalayan Times|access-date=2019-12-03}} and state bird of Uttarakhand, India, where it is known as a monal.{{cite web |last1=Goswami |first1=A. |title=सबसे सुंदर पंछियों में से एक मोनाल |trans-title=Monal is one of the most beautiful birds|url=https://www.prabhasakshi.com/ShowArticle.aspx?ArticleId=121009-113037-320010 |website=Prabha Sakshi |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130412155016/https://www.prabhasakshi.com/ShowArticle.aspx?ArticleId=121009-113037-320010 |archive-date=12 April 2013 |language=hi |date=2012}}
The scientific name commemorates Lady Mary Impey, the wife of the British chief justice of Bengal, Sir Elijah Impey.
Description
{{Unreferenced section|date=March 2020}}
It is a relatively large-sized pheasant. The bird is about {{cvt|70|cm}} long. The male weighs up to {{cvt|2380|g}} and the female {{cvt|2150|g}}. The adult male has multicoloured plumage throughout, while the female, as in other pheasants, is more subdued in colour. Notable features in the male include a long, metallic green crest, coppery feathers on the back and neck, and a prominent white rump that is most visible when the bird is in flight. The tail feathers of the male are uniformly rufous, becoming darker towards the tips, whereas the lower tail coverts of females are white, barred with black and red. The female has a prominent white patch on the throat and a white strip on the tail. The first-year male and the juvenile resemble the female, but the first-year male is larger and the juvenile is less distinctly marked.
Distribution and habitat
File:Himalayan Monal Female Pangolakha Wildlife Sanctuary East Sikkim India 27.03.2016.jpg, India]]
The Himalayan monal's native range extends from Afghanistan and Pakistan through the Himalayas in Nepal, India, southern Tibet and Bhutan.
In Pakistan, it is most common in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and has also been recorded in Kaghan, Palas Valley and Azad Kashmir.{{cite web |title=Himalayan Monal|url=http://www.wildlifeofpakistan.com/Himalayan_Monal.htm|work=Pheasants of Pakistan|publisher=Wildlife of Pakistan|access-date=24 February 2013}} In India, it has been recorded throughout the Indian Himalayan Region from Jammu and Kashmir to Arunachal Pradesh.{{cite web|title=Sclater's Monal and Himalayan Monal sighted in Arunachal's Upper Siang|url=https://www.eastmojo.com/arunachal-pradesh/2021/06/08/sclaters-monal-and-himalayan-monal-sighted-in-arunachals-upper-siang|date=2021-06-08|publisher=EastMojo}}
It lives in upper temperate oak-conifer forests interspersed with open grassy slopes, cliffs and alpine meadows between {{cvt|2400|and|4500|m}}, where it is most common between {{cvt|2700|and|3700|m}}. It descends to {{cvt|2000|m}} in the winter. It tolerates snow and digs through it to obtain plant roots and invertebrate prey.{{citation needed|date=May 2017}}
Behaviour and ecology
File:Lophophorus impejanus MWNH 1093.JPG]]
The diet of the Himalayan monal consists primarily of tubers, nuts, tender leaves, shoots, insects and other invertebrates. It digs in snow for shoots and invertebrates. Plant matter made up a large part of the diet, although invertebrate matter was also present in low percentages.{{Cite journal |author1=Hussain, M.S. |author2=Sultana, A. |date=2013 |title=Diet of threatened Pheasant species in Himalayas, India – A faecal analysis approach |journal=Ecologia Balkanica |volume=5 |issue=1 |pages=57–68 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/269703492}}
Conservation
In some areas, the Himalayan monal is threatened due to poaching and other anthropogenic factors. In the western Himalayas, the population responded negatively to human disturbance involving hydroelectric power development.{{cite journal |author1=Jolli, V. |name-list-style=amp |author2=Pandit, M. K. |year=2011 |title=Influence of human disturbance on the abundance of Himalayan Pheasant (Aves, Galliformes) in the temperate forest of Western Himalaya, India |journal=Vestnik Zoologii |volume=45 |issue=6 |pages=e40–e47 |doi=10.2478/v10058-011-0035-0 |s2cid=55089271 |url=|doi-access=free }} It is not considered endangered in Pakistan and can be easily located. In some areas, the population density of the species is as high as five pairs per square mile. The main threat to the species is poaching, as the crest is valuable. It is thought to bring status to its wearer and is a symbol of authority.
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{Commons category}}
- [http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/species/index.html?action=SpcHTMDetails.asp&sid=243&m=0 BirdLife Species Factsheet]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20070112033104/http://www.gbwf.org/pheasants/monal.html Galliforms and Pheasants]
{{Symbols of Uttarakhand}}
{{Phasianidae}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q742818}}
Category:Endemic birds of the Himalayas
Category:Symbols of Uttarakhand