Himalayan monal

The Himalayan monal (Lophophorus impejanus), also known as the Impeyan monal or pheasant, is a bird in the pheasant family, Phasianidae.  Its discoverer, Latham, wrote in his General History of Birds (1821): "[the monal] inhabits India, but is not common, being brought from the hills in the northern parts of Hindustan to Calcutta, as a rarity. Lady Impey attempted, with great prospect of success, to bring some of them to England, but after living on board for two months they caught a disorder from the other poultry, and died". Available on line in Biodiversity Heritage Library

It is the national bird of Nepal, where it is known as the danphe (or Danfe), and is mentioned frequently in Nepali songs. It is also the state bird of Uttarakhand, India. In Kashmir, it is the state/regional bird of the disputed territory.

 Description 
The Himalayan monal is a relatively large-sized pheasant. The males of this species look quite different from the females of the species. The male Himalayan monals have bright and colorful feathers of blue, green, purple, and red. They have a white patch of feathers underneath the base of their tail, but the rest of their underside is black. The males also have a crest (several feathers) on top of their heads. Both the male and female of the species have blue circles of skin around their eyes. The females and the young birds (chicks) have an overall brown appearance. Their feathers also have white and black strips on certain parts. The females have a white throat.

The male chicks look like the females chicks until a little after a year when they begin to become more colorful. Before then you could tell the young male and females apart because of their larger size and black feathers, instead of white feathers, on the throat.

Gallery

References

Other websites

 ARKive 
 Animal Diversity Web
 BirdLife Species Factsheet 
 Catalogue of Life 
 CITES
 Galliforms and Pheasants 
 ITIS
 Tree of Life - Lophophorus
 National Center for Biotechnology Information
 UICN

Category:Birds of Asia
Category:Birds of Pakistan
Category:Phasianidae
Category:Birds of Kashmir
Category:State symbols of Uttarakhand
Category:National symbols of Nepal