Himalayan Monal




 Most people who see the Indian Peafowl usually don't believe that a bird, as beautiful as it can exist. If you thought so, then I am extremely sorry to inform you that you are mistaken. The bird that I will be talking about in this post is one of the Peafowl's arch enemies, in terms of beauty.

The Himalayan Monal, also known as the Impeyan Monal or the Impeyan Pheasant, is one of the fairly common birds of the Himadri range of the Himalayas. (The Northern Himalayas) The male bird is characterized by its glossy blue wings, orange tail, reddish-brown neck and a greenish crest on its head whereas the female bird has a much dull appearance, with a streaky brown body and a white neck. The juveniles are much less marked. The diet of these birds consists mostly of  insects, seeds, roots, berries and more. The thing which surprises me about this bird is that it is the state bird of Uttarakhand and also the national bird of Nepal! 

A notable feature in the behaviour of the male bird is that they tend to be quite aggressive during mating seasons as they compete with each other to attract females and conquer territory. This bird's call is quite high-pitched, with frequently used piercing whistles. These birds usually cry out to express emotions like aggression, alarm, satisfaction and also to attract mates. This bird's local name in Nepal is,'Danphe'. In Nepal, this bird is associated with peace and beauty. It is also a symbol of the country's Himalayan region. In Uttarakhand, this bird is called, 'Monal'. If you are wanting to pay this bird a visit, then the best time to spot it will be during the breeding season, which runs from April to August.

Even though the Himalayan Monal's conservation status is that of "Least Concern", its population is decreasing mostly due to habitat loss, climate change and poaching, mainly for the crest. Thus, I urge all the readers here to please spread this information by sharing this post to make people aware that even common birds are facing danger and also follow my blog.




                                            The Himalayan Monal.                                      Illustrated by: True Indian.

.............       ................       ..............     ................     










Comments

  1. True Indian 4 April 2025 at 18:34

    Hi everyone! Just recently added the follow button to my blog 👆. So don't forget to click on it and show your love to all of India's endangered wonders!


    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Sclater's Monal

 India has many strange yet intriguing creatures, living amidst the wilderness, but, one of my favourite is a bird called the Sclater's Monal. This proud beauty is endemic to the eastern Himalayas and has been sighted many times in Arunachal Pradesh in India. Along with its glossy wings and orange-tipped tail, the looks of the male bird  rivals that of its cousin, the Himalayan Monal. The bird has been named in memory of a british zoologist named, Philip.L.Sclater. These pheasents feed mostly on seeds, small mamals, leaves and more. These folk, however, make a sound which may seem alarming when compared with its looks. It gives out a line of shrill chattering and a high pitched shriek at the end. However, even though this bird's conservation status is that of least concern, its population is decreasing mainly due to the loss of its habitat. As a birdwatcher myself, this is very unhappy news for me and that's why I am urging all the readers here to spread this information.
Read more

Wildlife and Extinction

 When I was around 6 years old, I started to develop a keen interest in birds, which I seem to have kept alive. I am from India, a land with so many species of birds.I have observed and created observation charts on many of them. Even though I am proud to see the number of many birds increase, there are also many endangered birds not only in my country but all over the world. From my point of view, this should be considered a major problem globally, not mentioning that many animals have become extinct during the last century. There are many birds and animals, about whom many people have never even heard of, such as the Bugun Liocichla, a bird in the small, yet wild Eaglenest Wildlife Sanctuary, Arunachal Pradesh. This species 's conservation status is "critically endangered" and there are only about 25-250 mature individuals in the area. The only way to save these creatures, according to me, is spreading awareness about the dangers they are facing. These innocent creatur...
Read more

Lesser Florican

In my previous posts, I have talked about the Bengal Florican and the Great Indian Bustard. In this post, I will be talking about the last member of the trio, the Lesser Florican.  The Lesser Florican may be mistaken by some people to be the Bengal Florican but the two birds actually have some differences in their appearences. These birds have much slimmer necks and stand out mostly due to their crests. This critically endangered bird mainly inhabits the grasslands of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and parts of Andhra Pradesh and Nepal (during the Summer). It is known in various names in different places such as 'Kharmor', meaning grass peacock, in Gujarat and 'Likh' in Nepal. It feeds mainly on dung beatles, insects, shoots, berries and more. However, habitat loss is posing as one of the major threats to these birds, mostly because in India, there is a lack of national policies for grassland ecosystems. Also, even though poaching is illegal, hunting still continues, mainly in...
Read more