Himalayan Monal

The Himalayan monal, also called the Impeyan monal, is a landfowl of Himalayan forests and shrublands at elevations of 2,100 to 4,500 m. It ranges from Afghanistan and Pakistan through Nepal, India, southern Tibet and Bhutan, living in oak-conifer forest with open grassy slopes, cliffs and alpine meadows, and descending to lower ground in winter. The male is multicoloured, with a long metallic green crest, coppery back and neck and a white rump visible in flight, while the female is more subdued with a white throat patch. It digs through snow for tubers, shoots and invertebrates, and also eats nuts, leaves and insects.

About the Himalayan monal

The Himalayan monal is a large, brilliantly colored pheasant of the high Himalayan forests and meadows, living between about 2,100 and 4,500 m (6,900 and 14,800 ft). A landfowl of the pheasant family, Phasianidae, it is the national bird of Nepal and the state bird of Uttarakhand, India.

Its scientific name is Lophophorus impejanus, and it is also called the Impeyan monal. Both names honor Lady Mary Impey, wife of Sir Elijah Impey, the British chief justice of Bengal. In Nepal it is known as the danphe or danfe and appears often in Nepali songs.

This is a heavy, stocky bird with strong legs, a short tail, and a thick bill. Adults measure 61 to 76 cm (24 to 30 in) long and weigh 1.4 to 2.3 kg (3 to 5 lb). The tail itself is only about 22 to 24 cm (8.7 to 9.4 in) long, and females are a little smaller than males.

The male's plumage shimmers in iridescent green, purple, red, and blue, with coppery feathers on the back and neck, a black underside, and a long, metallic green crest whose feathers end in spoon-shaped tips. A bright white rump patch shows best in flight, and the tail is a uniform rusty red that darkens toward the tip. Color varies more than this description suggests, and birds with black tails, green undersides, all-dark plumage, or partial albinism have been recorded.

The female is very different, as in other landfowl. She is mostly plain brown with pale streaks and dark barring, a white throat patch, and a white stripe on the tail, and she never raises a crest. Both sexes have a blue ring of bare skin around the eye, brown eyes, and a horn-colored bill. Young males look like females but are larger, with more black above and spotted black and reddish-brown underparts. Birds are fully grown at two years old.

Behavior and diet

Himalayan monals live in pairs, and outside the breeding season they form small groups. They often forage in single-sex parties of three or four birds, and in winter larger flocks gather in sheltered spots with milder conditions. They are commonly seen feeding on open alpine meadows.

The diet is mostly plant matter, with a smaller share of animal food. Monals eat roots, tubers, shoots, tender leaves, seeds, acorns, nuts, and berries, along with insects, larvae, and other invertebrates. The bill works like a shovel, digging food out of the soil. Monals tolerate snow well and dig right through it to reach roots, shoots, and invertebrates underneath.

When startled, a monal usually escapes downhill. It is a good flier, but it typically runs for cover rather than taking to the air.

In the breeding season the male calls loudly to attract females. His courtship is a performance: he puffs up his feathers, struts, and circles the female with his neck stretched out, his crest quivering, and one wing lowered. Sometimes he offers her a small stone or a bit of food. Once the female starts incubating in spring, the male leaves her and may mate again.

The nest is a well-hidden scrape on the ground lined with leaves, moss, and hay. The female lays four to six cream-colored eggs with reddish-brown spots and incubates them for about 27 days. The species can live for around 30 years.

Range and habitat

Compared with other Himalayan pheasants, the Himalayan monal has a very large range. It runs from eastern Afghanistan and Pakistan along the Himalayas through India, Nepal, southern Tibet, and Bhutan. In Pakistan it is common in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and has been recorded in Kaghan, the Palas Valley, and Azad Kashmir. In India it occurs throughout the Himalayan region from Jammu and Kashmir to Arunachal Pradesh. In Nepal it remains fairly common, including in Sagarmatha and Langtang national parks.

Its main habitat is upper temperate oak-conifer forest broken up by open grassy slopes, cliffs, and alpine meadows, along with rhododendron forest and areas of dense undergrowth. It lives mostly between 2,400 and 4,500 m (7,900 and 14,800 ft) and is most common between 2,700 and 3,700 m (8,900 and 12,100 ft). When snow gets deep in winter, it moves down the mountains, as low as about 2,000 m (6,600 ft).

Male vs female Himalayan monal

Male and female monals look so different that they can be mistaken for separate species. Young males add to the confusion by looking like females in their first year.

Both sexes share a blue ring of bare skin around the eye.

Conservation status

The Himalayan monal is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, based on a 2016 BirdLife International assessment. It is also listed on CITES Appendix I. In some places it is common, with densities as high as five pairs per square mile (about two pairs per square kilometer), and in Pakistan it is not considered endangered and is easy to find.

Locally, though, it faces real pressure. Poaching is the main threat, because the male's crest is valuable; it is worn as a symbol of status and authority. In the western Himalayas, monal numbers have dropped in response to human disturbance from hydroelectric development.