State bird of uttarakhand monal series#

The Himalayan monal is a big pheasant native to the Himalayas. It is the national bird of Nepal and the state bird of Uttarakhand, where it is known as the Danfe. It is also known as the Impeyan Monal, Impeyan Pheasant, and Danphe. Remember, they are shy and wary birds and hide quickly among their habitats in the dense vegetation, if disturbed.The Himalayan Monal, Lophophorus impejanus, is a pheasant of the Phasianidae family. The male, however, is not shy of the fatherâ€™s duty and tends the chicks once these are hatched. The incubation job is of the female only which incubates clutches of two to six eggs. Tragopan couple does not mind using the abandoned nest of another species. When the female is about to procreate, a rudimentary nest is prepared either on the branch of a tree or on the ground. The western tragopan lives in small family parties and is believed to be primarily monogamous. The number of captive birds in it varies from 10 to 24 but according to a Forest Department report, â€œDuring 2012, a total of seven females incubated the eggs naturally, which represents nearly 75 per cent of the individuals of the captive population and is the highest number of females incubating the eggs naturally till now.â€ Seven chicks have been mother-reared. The pheasantry is at Sarahan amid thick pine and deodar forests in the Rampur-Sarahan area of upper Shimla district. Secondly, a Sarahan Pheasantry had been started in 1992 which is the only place in the world to hold western tragopan in captivity.

It is really a great place for school students to go and gather knowledge about the biodiversity. This park is home to 203 bird species and 31 mammal species, three reptiles, nine amphibians and 127 insect species, besides 425 species of plants. The Great Himalayan National Park spreads over 754 square kilometre and is one of the richest biodiversity sites in the Western Himalayas. Because of the improved conservation methods adopted, the density of this highly endangered, elusive pheasant in the Great Himalayan National Park at Kullu has increased to 6.5 birds per square kilometre whereas it was just 5 in 2010. Two steps relating to western tragopan taken in Himachal Pradesh are encouraging. Females have pale brownish grey upper parts finely vermiculated and spotted with black and most of the feathers have black patches and central white streaks. Sides of the head and throat are naked or only thinly feathered and brightly coloured. Male western tragopan is bright dark, grey and black in colour with numerous white spots, each spot bordered with black deep crimson patches on the sides and back of the neck. Adult male jujurana is slightly bigger than its female counterpart and is weightier. Today, western tragopan is a schedule-1 bird according to the Wildlife Protection Act and classified as vulnerable (VU) by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Despite the poor work of taxidermy, the bird looked awesome. Somebody had caught it in the Chohar valley and stuffed it to be decorated in the shelf. Jujurana meaning â€˜King of Birdsâ€™ is called pyara in Kinnaur, jyazi in Bushahr and fulgar in Chamba and Kangra districts.Ībout 40 years back, for the first time, I had seen a jujurana in a friendâ€™s house at Jogindernagar.

State bird of uttarakhand monal series#

He had immense wealth and this enabled him to produce a series of bird books illustrated by magnificent colour plates, including his own excellent works. Daniel Giraud Elliot (1835-1915) was curator of zoology in The Field Museum at Chicago and was one of the founders of the American Ornithologistsâ€™ Union. The beauty and charm of jujurana is reflected in a painting of the bird done by DG Elliot in 1872 (See photo).

But monal (lophophorus impygenus), another beautiful bird, remains the State Bird of Uttarakhand and the national bird of Nepal. The third State Wildlife Board meeting in 2007 decided to crown western tragopan (tragopan melanocephalus), locally known as jujurana, as the state bird of Himachal Pradesh dethroning monal from its exalted position. Western tragopan male ( Click to enlarge)