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. I hope to use it as a way of encouraging critical thinking, looking at scientific papers that are relevant to the Level 3 curriculum and to Scholarship.The Himalayan Monal Pheasant ( Lophophorus impejanus) is also regionally known as the Impeyan Monal or Impeyan Pheasant. This blog in response to comments from secondary school biology teachers. In species where there’s little dimorphism, it’s often associated with monogamous breeding patterns, & as a general rule the type of breeding pattern in a given species is linked to the species’ ecology. Strongly dimorphic species are often polygamous – more usually polygynous, with dominant males mating with several females during the breeding season phalaropes, however, are polyandrous, with the more brightly-coloured female laying eggs in the nests of several males and leaving them to incubate alone. The monal is a stand-out example of the eventual outcome. Such marked differences between the sexes are often due to intersexual selection, with females acting as the agents of selection & choosing their mates on the basis of physical appearance, or other attributes that give information on the male’s quality. This stunning bird ( Lophophorus impejanus) is a type of pheasant, and like other pheasants the species is strongly sexually dimorphic: the males are dressed in gorgeous irisdescent plumage, while the females’ plumage is dark brown apart for white patches on throat & rump, & the same bright blue circle round the eyes. ( Image via Facebook: Tambako the Jaguar Flickr - with Robin Subba, Sarvesh Wangawad, Jeriko Angue, Roberto Delapisa, Jonas Mgr, Neelesh Suryavanshi, Shashank Asai, Sushant Bhujel and Pabitra Lamichhane.) Another for the ‘gosh, isn’t this beautiful?!’ files: the Himalayan Monal (the national bird of Nepal).
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