Pranay Chandra

Himalayan Monal ( Lophophorus Impejanus )
The Himalayan Monal, more commonly referred as ‘Danfe’ by Gorkhas, inhabiting Sikkim is also known as the Impeyan Monal or Impeyan Pheasant. The name Impeyan originates from Lady Mary Impey, wife of British Chief Justice of Bengal, Sir Elijah Impey, who first kept these birds in captivity. Monals are of the pheasant family, Phasianidae. It is the National Bird of Nepal, and the State Bird of Uttarakhand. A recent survey of Arunachal Pradesh indicates possibility of discovering a new subspecies of Lophophorus, though believed to be a subspecies of Sclater's Monal, is yet to be confirmed. There is, so far, no confirmed record of subspecies in the Himalayan Monal. However, recent studies have shown that the male Himalayan Monals of northwestern India lack the white rump that many Himalayan Monals have, and have more green on the breast, indicating the possibility of a second subspecies.

The monals are large pheasants with iridescent plumage and velvety black underpants. Males also have bare, bright blue orbital skin and crests of varying size and shape. The bill is long and highly curved, with the upper mandible strongly overlapping the lower one. The wing is rounded, tail is flat, broad, and shorter than the wing. The tarsus is stout and is spurred in males. First-year males resemble the females, which are dark brown, with rufous and whitish markings. These pheasants are amongst the most beautiful pheasants due to their striking metallic colored plumage. It is a relatively large sized bird averaging 2.3 feet in length, the weight averaging between 1.8 to 2.3 kgs. Females tend to be slightly smaller and lighter.

Male

Adult male has long crest of spatulate metallic green feathers, a patch of deep metallic purple behind the ear-coverts, sides of neck and nape fiery copper brown, changing gradually into bronze green on the back scapulars and adjacent wing coverts, innermost secondaries and rump purple, the secondaries tipped metallic greenish blue, lower back white, sometimes with fine black stripes, rump and shorter tail coverts purple, more or less glossed with blue-green, longest tail coverts metallic green, tail cinnamon, darker at the tip, shoulder of wing and remaining coverts metallic green, primaries and secondaries dark brown, the latter glossed with green on their margins, underparts brownish black or dull black, glossed with green on the breast and flanks, under tail coverts metallic green with dark bases. Iris brown, orbital skin and cheeks bright blue, bill brown, legs yellowish or pale brownish green, sometimes darker and, rarely, lead. The colours of all these parts vary greatly.

Female
Females are brown with a square tail with buffy streaks. The skin around the eye is blue, feathers of head and crest black with central streaks and edges of rufous yellowish beige, nape same with broader streaks, back and mantle black, with yellowish beige streaks, here and there replaced with white, giving a curious mottled appearance, lower back yellowish beige with crescent black bars, tail coverts yellowish beige with larger bars occupying most of the feathers, visible parts of wing-coverts and secondaries like the back but more mottled, primaries and outer secondaries dark brown, the former mottled, the latter barred with rufous buff on the outer webs, chin, throat and fore-neck white, remainder of lower parts brown, the breast and flanks with dark lines, these more broken and fewer on the abdomen and lower breast, their place being taken by pale central streaks and white shafts; lower tail coverts white, barred with black and rufous. Iris dark brown, bill pale horn with a darker upper mandible, the legs and toes pale yellowish.

Habitat

Monals are found at high altitudes at heights varying from 9000 feet to 11000 feet on steep slopes, especially where the ground is greatly broken and where there are occasional grassy areas interspersed with woods. Monals choose raised ledges on slopes of steep cliff or out jutting boulders for their roosting site, being safe from martens, foxes, feral dogs. The cavities in such places, further offer protection from storms.

Diet
The insects and tubers form its principle diet. The birds spend a great deal of time digging with their beaks for tubers, roots and insects. In autumn it forage largely on insect larvae that it finds under decaying leaves, and at other times of the year on roots, leaves and young shoots of various shrubs and grasses, as well as acorns, seeds and berries. Edible mushrooms, wild strawberries, currants, and the roots of ferns have also been mentioned as local foods.

Call and Display
The locations are advertised daily by loud calling. The call is a shrill, loud and curlew-like whistle, pitched at slightly higher note in young one’s. This call is an extension of the piping call with the ultimate note extended into a pure tone and repeated at intervals of 1 to 5 second to form the whistle call. Its function may be that of indicating 'anxiety', and on hearing it other monals would sometimes become alert and utter the same call. A chuck-chuck call is made when suddenly alarmed.
The male's display occurs between males with the purpose of establishing dominance. Males stand very tall, with the feathers of the neck, the mantle, and the abdomen strongly fluffed. The beak is held upright and the birds step slowly and elaborately, occasionally lowering the head, causing the crest to vibrate and shimmer. When males direct the display toward females they perform the same ceremony, but without feather fluffing, and they also suddenly arch the neck, bringing the crest forward, then call while suddenly raising the head and quickly lowering it again, causing the crest to vibrate violently. He circles the female, leaning toward her and raising the farther wing so that it is visible across his back. Subsequently the male faces the female and lowers its head while standing erect, half-opening the wings, fluffing the neck feathers, and holding the tail high and fanned. The wings are slowly opened and partially closed, and the tail is slowly flicked up and down. In this posture the white back patch is exposed, and head is oriented so that the crest directly points toward the female. The display is normally silent, but the head is sometimes shaken, causing the crest to vibrate and shimmer. This part of the display may last up to 2 min, and is usually the climax. Besides these ground displays, a display flight is performed of an extended gliding, with the tail fanned and the wings held well above the level of the body with repeated piping call that varies from fairly soft to strident.

Nesting Monals are polygynous largely due to females being gregarious and the pair remains together from mating to incubation. In India these birds begin nesting primarily in May. Nests are invariably placed in wooded habitats, typically in forests having large trees but not very thick undergrowth. The nest is a simple scrape, often under the shelter of a bush, a rock, or in the hole of some large tree. The nest is often unlined, although leaves may collect in the hollow and thus form a lining. Clutch sizes in the wild are most commonly of four or five eggs, with three egg clutches also fairly common. Usually males take no part in the rearing phase.The incubation period lasts some 26-29 days. Sexual maturity is not attained until the second year of life.

Status
The status of this beautiful pheasant is still fairly secure in many areas. A particular problem that has an impact on Himalayan Monal populations throughout the Himalayan areas of the Subcontinent is that of 'crest-hunting'. The crest of a male Himalayan Monal is a prized possession and, when worn as a decoration on a 'topi' or cap, symbolizes status and authority. The requirement and desire for these status symbols has led to the demise of many Himalayan Monal populations in India.

My Personal Observation of Monal at Sikkim
I found the population of Monal stable all over the state. They can be sighted along the road in high altitudes either early mornings or late in the evenings, mainly avoiding the traffic timings. This is a curious bird which will hide on seeing human presence but curiosity forces on it to check after some time the whereabouts of human and it emerges from behind the rock where it hid itself. This attitude is little funny since the plumage is seen emerging first against the skyline and slowly the head comes up and if one does not make any movement then curiosity further prevails and it tries to investigate the intruders intentions. I personally feel it’s hearing is little impaired since it cocks it head on hearing sound and seems a little confused for some time trying to decipher the source and direction of the sound. Probably due to the gregarious behavior of females it zealously guards its partner. You sight one and surely after some time you will be able to locate its partner. If you maintain a safe distance, and try to disturb the bird it does not leave its ground but require repeated persuasion to fly off. Even then it does not fly but scoots to another location in near vicinity and hides itself to again emerge after some time to check you up. But when suddenly encountered by a vehicle or by foot then it flies to a longer distance.