3/10/2023 0 Comments Himalayan monal pheasant.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. 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).įemales tend to be slightly smaller and lighter. 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. She lays eggs each year but has not shown any sign of wanting to incubate them.The Himalayan Monal Pheasant ( Lophophorus impejanus) is also regionally known as the Impeyan Monal or Impeyan Pheasant. However, they still have the other half of the aviary to dig up and grub around in so everyone is happy.Īs well as the abundance of food that they find for themselves they also enjoy mealworms, peanuts, grain and seed and will have a go at banana skins once the Touracos have finished off the flesh. This grows well in the spring and the Monals leave it alone. It's stapled down and then grass and wildflower seed sown over the top. Half of the floor is now covered with wire - the 1" by 1.5" used to construct the aviary. Over the next two years I experimented with various solutions to this problems until we finally hit upon a winning formula. This became a problem in late autumn as they had stripped the whole aviary floor of grass. We have been surprised by their industry - the ground is being very well tilled on a regular basis. However, they spend most of their day scratching around with both beak and feet, turning the earth and digging up grubs and the like. They have been easy to keep and do not interfere with other species. The cock bird likes to retreat to his shelf when we are around while the hen will content herself with drifting into the laurels and choisea. ![]() They were very nervous at first but are now getting more used to having people around, particularly the hen. The expectation is that a young pair will bond and be ready to mate within 18 months. We bought a young pair and had the benefit of watching them reach maturity - watching their colouration and crests develop over the first year. They are a large bird and we were concerned to create a space big enough the house them. ![]() Description One of the reasons that the aviary grew to its present size was the Himalayan Monal Pheasant.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |