Male Himalayan Monal
The Himalayan Monal is a relatively large-sized bird within the family Phasianidae. With about 70 cm in length, the weight of males ranges from 1980 to 2380 g and that of females from and 1800 to 2150 g. Adult males possess a long crest, feathered with multi-colored plumage throughout its body, while the females, like other pheasants, are dull in color with their upper parts covered with dark brownish black feathers. Notable features in males are their long crest which is metallic green, changeable reddish copper in the back and sides of the neck and a prominent white back while in flight. Tail feathers of the male are uniformly rufous, darker towards the tips, while the lower tail coverts of the female are white, barred with black and rufous. The female has a prominent white patch in the fore neck and a white strip on the tail. First year males are immature and resemble female chicks, but are larger in the first year and their immaturity is less pronounced (Delacour, 1977). It is also one of the best recognized pheasant species of the western Himalayas because of the metallic, rainbow-colored plumage, iridescent blue head crest and highly exhibited sexual dimorphism of the male. These characteristics have qualified this mountainous forest bird to the status as national bird of Nepal and the state bird of Uttaranchal and Himalchal Pradesh in India (Ramesh et al., 1999; Ramesh, 2003). Distribution: The natural range of the the Himalayan Monal spreads from eastern Afghanistan through the Himalayas, including Pakistan, India (the state of Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttaranchal, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh), China (the Tibet region), Nepal and Bhutan. There is also a report of its occurrence in Myanmar, based on a specimen taken in 1969 from the Hpungan pass (27°30′N, 96°48′E), along the Indo-Myanmar border (Yin, 1970). Domestically there is evidence showing that this montane bird is resident on the southern slopes of the Himalaya mountains, specifically in the counties Dingjie, Tingri, Nyalam, Kuala, Yadong, Nyingchi, Medog and Zayu (Zheng and Wang, 1998; Li, 2004) and Gongshan County in the northwest of Yunnan Province (He, 2001). Our data suggest that the Himalayan Monal is mainly found in Medog, Zayu, Cona, Lhunze, Lhozhag, Nyalam, Dingjie, Gamba and Yadong counties, on the south slopes of the Himalayas. Its western-most location was confirmed to be in Nyalam County. The bird ranges in elevation from 3800
Female Himalayan Monal
to 4300 m in the summer and from 3200 to 3500 m in the winter.Habitat: The Himalayan Monal occupies the upper temperate oak-conifer forests and subalpine oak forests interspersed with open grassy slopes, cliffs and alpine meadows between 2400 and 4500 m elevation, mostly concentrating in a narrow belt between 2700 and 3700 m (Grimmett et al., 1998). They exhibit clear migration in elevation, reaching as low as 2000 m in winter (Ramesh, 2003). Our observations showed that the birds mainly occur in rocky forests where the dominant tree species include Quercus semecarpifolia, Picea spinulosa and Abies spectabilis, characterized by DBH > 20 cm and the oldest tree of the stands was estimated to be more than 500 years old. The bush layer is primarily composed of Salix oritrepha and Rosa tibetica interspersed with steep slopes (45°–50°), cliffs and alpine meadows at an elevation of 3800–4000 m. However, they show tolerance to snow and have been observed to dig through snow for roots, tubers,
other plant parts and invertebrates (McGowan, 1994; Kumar, 1997). Conservation: Similar to many other spectacular species, the Himalayan Monal is usually captured by local people for their own purposes. The bird has been decisively incorporated into the traditional folklore of many Himalayan cultures (Delacour, 1977). The use of feathers is deemed significant in rituals and local ceremonies among the people across Asia. For example, men in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh hunted males for their crests, which adorned their ceremonial hats as a sign of high social status and the defining of property qualification, although this pressure subsided after hunting was banned in Himachal Pradesh in 1982 (Kumar et al., 1997; Ramesh, 2003). In addition, pheasants are aesthetically pleasing to humans and irrefutably a source of food. For instance, chickens provide a stable diet for millions of people in the world and sport
hunting is very popular entertainment in Europe and America. Thus, several of these factors have collectively contributed to the removal of wild populations in their native regions. As well, pheasant populations have experienced strong depletion, attributed to loss of their habitats by human encroachment and development in most part of their ranges (McGowan and Gillman, 1997). Another example is Yadong County in Tibet where the Himalayan Monal and Satyr Tragopan (Tragopan satyra) were illegally hunted by local people using traps set on the paths which the birds must pass on snowy days in the winter. These birds are captured to stuff specimens for commercial purposes. The present state of knowledge of the Himalayan Monal is sketchy and it is necessary to obtain scientific data to understand their behavior and ecological requirements better. This dearth of information may be partly due to its remoteness and lack of accessibility, dense forests and steep terrain of their habitats making them difficult to observe. Furthermore, poaching and habitat degradation from human activities contribute to the situation. We hope that our survey, designed to gather new information on the distribution and ecology of the Himalayan Monal, will encourage further study and conservation of this magnificent species in Tibet and elsewhere. After more investigations, conservation measures for the Himalayan Monal should be implemented for the protection of this species. Source: Animal Discovery-chane
