Mrs. Hume's pheasant
{{Short description|State bird of Manipur; State bird of Mizoram}}
{{Speciesbox
| name = Mrs. Hume's pheasant
| image = Imgl0019.jpg
| 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 = Syrmaticus
| species = humiae
| authority = (Hume, 1881)
| range_map =Distribution syrmaticus humiae.png
}}
Mrs. Hume's pheasant (Syrmaticus humiae) ({{langx|mni|Nongin}}; literally, "one who follows the track of rain",{{Cite book |last1=Kaushik |first1=Alankar |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9vx8EAAAQBAJ&dq=nongin&pg=PA144 |title=Narratives and New Voices from India: Cases of Community Development for Social Change |last2=Suchiang |first2=Abir |date=2022-07-21 |publisher=Springer Nature |isbn=978-981-19-2496-5 |pages=144 |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Nongin the State bird of Manipur By Sanasam Yaiphaba |url=http://e-pao.net/epSubPageExtractor.asp?src=education.Science_and_Technology.Nongin_the_State_bird_of_Manipur_By_Sanasam_Yaiphaba |access-date=2022-07-25 |website=e-pao.net}}{{Cite web |title=StateBirdNongin|url=http://www.manenvis.nic.in/Database/StateBirdNongin_3355.aspx?format=Print|website=manenvis.nic.in}} Mizo: Vavu), also known as Hume's pheasant or the bar-tailed pheasant, is a large forest pheasant. It is the state bird of the Indian states of Mizoram and Manipur. The name commemorates Mary Ann Grindall Hume, wife of the British naturalist Allan Octavian Hume, one of the key founders of the Indian National Congress.
Description
The pheasant is up to {{convert|90|cm|abbr=on}} long with a greyish brown head, bare red facial skin, chestnut brown plumage, yellowish bill, brownish orange iris, white wingbars and metallic blue neck feathers. The male has a long greyish white, barred black and brown tail. The female is a chestnut brown bird with whitish throat, buff colour belly and white-tipped tail.
Taxonomy
Mrs. Hume's pheasant's has two recognised subspecies,
- Syrmaticus humiae humiae (Hume, 1881) - mountains of extreme northeast India (Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Mizoram, and Nagaland), and east to the Irrawaddy River in northwestern Myanmar.
- Syrmaticus humiae burmanicus (Oates, 1898) - South China (southwestern Yunnan, western Guangxi, and extreme southwestern Guizhou) and eastern Myanmar (east of Irrawaddy river) south to northwestern Thailand.
Distribution and population
This rare and little known pheasant is found throughout forested habitats of the Mizoram, Patkai Range, Manipur, Yunnan and northern parts of Myanmar and Thailand. Its diet consists mainly of vegetation matter. The female lays three to twelve creamy white eggs in nests of leaves, twigs and feathers.
It is the state bird of Mizoram and Manipur.{{cite web |url=https://tourism.mizoram.gov.in/loc/38 |title=Murlen Naltional Park, Champhai District |website=Mizoram Tourism |publisher=Department of Tourism, Government of Mizoram |access-date=7 September 2020}}{{cite web |url=https://nenow.in/north-east-news/manipur/manipur-initiative-conserve-state-bird-mrs-humes-pheasant.html |title=Manipur initiative to conserve state bird Mrs Hume's Pheasant |website=Northeast Now |date=5 April 2018 |access-date=7 September 2020}}
Owing to ongoing habitat loss, fragmented population and being hunted for food, the Mrs. Hume's pheasant is evaluated as 'Vulnerable' on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. It is listed on Appendix I of CITES.
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/species/index.html?action=SpcHTMDetails.asp&sid=268&m=0 BirdLife Species Factsheet]
{{Phasianidae}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q852185}}