Himalayan Monal

Himalayan monal (Lophophorus impejanus)

Status
Classified as Least Concern (LC) on the IUCN Red List 2006 and listed on Appendix I of CITES

Range
Found in the Himalayas from eastern Afghanistan to Bhutan, northeast India and southern Tibet; the Himalayan monal has also been reported from Burma. In pakistan it is found on the belt of nelum jehlum valley and kaghan area .

Description
A stunningly colourful member of the pheasant family, the Himalayan monal is the national bird of Nepal. The iridescent rainbow-like plumage of the male is surpassed only by the slightly larger Chinese monal (Lophophorus lhuysii). The male Himalayan monal possesses a wiry, metallic green head-crest that is absent in other monal species, as well as a chestnut brown tail, light brown wings and a white rump that is visible in flight. The head is bright green, the eyes ringed with blue and the neck reddish brown. At the nape of the neck is a yellow patch which forms the top edge of the bluish black wings and the purplish black back. The breast is dark brown and the tail feathers are light brown. Females do not share the same splendour as males, with overall dark brown feathers, except for a white throat and rump patch, and the bright blue circle around the eyes. The female also has a crest, but whereas the male’s is green and has spoon-shaped feathers, the female’s is shorter, and brown with ordinary feathers