Himalyan Monal – The State bird of Uttarakhand :

The Himalayan monal (Lophophorus impejanus), also known as the Impeyan monal and Impeyan pheasant, is a bird in the pheasantfamily, Phasianidae. It is the national bird of Nepal, where it is known as the danphe, and state bird of Uttarakhand, India, where it is known as the monal. It was also the state bird of Himachal Pradesh until 2007.The scientific name commemorates Lady Mary Impey, the wife of the British chief justice of Bengal Sir Elijah Impey

Detailed Description :

It is a relatively large-sized pheasant. The bird is about 70 centimetres long. The male weighs up to 2380 grams and the female 2150. 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.

Himalayan monal is a colorful bird. Size of adult Himalayan monal is between 60 to 72 cm. The weight of adult is between 1.70 to 2.40 kg. Males are slightly larger and heavier than females. The male Himalayan monal look quite different from the female. The adult male has multicolored plumage. Male Himalayan monal have bright blue, green, purple, light yellow, brown, black and red feathers. They have a white patch of feathers underneath the base of their tail, but the rest of their underside is black. The breast and underparts are black.

At the nape of the neck is a bright yellow patch which forms the top edge of the bluish black wings and the purplish black back. They chestnut brown tail, light brown wings and a white rump that is visible in flight.The head is bright green, and he males have a metallic-green crest on top of their heads. They have bare patch of turquoise blue skin around the eye.

The tail feathers are uniformly rufous being darker towards the tips. 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.

Females are duller than the males. Females have greyish brown upperparts with white stick lines and black spots. The under parts of female is light greyish brown with white stick lines. Their upper parts are covered with mottled brownish-black feathers.

Distribution and habitat :

The Himalayan monal's native range extends from Afghanistan and Pakistan through the Himalayas in India, Nepal, southern Tibet, and Bhutan  and in Pakistan, it is most common in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and has also been recorded in Kaghan, Palas Valley, and Azad Kashmir. It lives in upper temperate oak-conifer forests interspersed with open grassy slopes, cliffs and alpine meadows between 2400 and 4500 meters, where it is most common between 2700 and 3700 meters. It descends to 2,000 m (6,600 ft) in the winter. It tolerates snow and digs through it to obtain plant roots and invertebrate prey.

Monal is a beautiful Himalayan bird possessing nine colors in itself.  Bird with a shrill whistle voice inhabits in cool temperature altitude from 2500meter to 5000 meters Monal prefers open meadows spreading in the Oak and Conifer forest. In winter it is found in low altitude.

Behaviour and ecology :

The breeding season is April through August, and they generally form pairs at this time. In winter they congregate in large coveys and roost communally.  Monal breeds only once in a year in the month of April to August.These are seen usually seen in pairs. Monal is an endangered species and is included in Wild Life Protection act of 1972.The number of these species is declining because of its beautiful feathers it is target of hunters. Skins of these birds are used as showpiece by filling hay, People kills these birds to eat and native of Himachals used its feathers for their caps. Wild life act take a back seat and killing these birds is in way of diappear.