![himalayan monal bird himalayan monal bird](http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-22-llKxrBeg/URDl3pnhFuI/AAAAAAAABbI/QIQhDQG8FD0/s1600/himalayan_monal_by_tadstone-d4c9s7w.jpg)
Males stand very tall, with the feathers of the neck, the mantle, and the abdomen strongly fluffed.
![himalayan monal bird himalayan monal bird](http://www.nejohnston.org/Birds/2013/12/Images_sm/IMG_4097.jpg)
The male's display occurs between males with the purpose of establishing dominance. A chuck-chuck call is made when suddenly alarmed. Its function may be that of indicating 'anxiety', and on hearing it other monals would sometimes become alert and utter the same call. 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. The call is a shrill, loud and curlew-like whistle, pitched at slightly higher note in young one’s. The locations are advertised daily by loud calling. Iris dark brown, bill pale horn with a darker upper mandible, the legs and toes pale yellowish.
Himalayan monal bird skin#
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. Femaleįemales are brown with a square tail with buffy streaks. The colours of all these parts vary greatly. Iris brown, orbital skin and cheeks bright blue, bill brown, legs yellowish or pale brownish green, sometimes darker and, rarely, lead.
Himalayan monal bird Patch#
The predators of the bird are birds of prey, carnivores and humans.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. The immature males at its first year merely looks like a female but will look slightly larger than the females with distinctive markings. The mating happens when the juveniles reach the age of two. After six months the young ones becomes independent from their mother and start to search food individually.
![himalayan monal bird himalayan monal bird](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/IPmJpdTS3R4/hqdefault.jpg)
The young ones are born precocial and and cannot care of itself. They also play a vital role in securing their chicks from predators. The hatching period lasts for about 27 to 30 days. The males stand guarding the nest throughout the hatching period. Only the female takes part in incubating the eggs. They mate and start to build nest by scraping the ground.Īround three to five eggs are laid in a clutch. The courtship starts once the female is satisfied with the male's display. The bird starts producing calls for the whole day during this season. During the breeding season the pairs are seen to be at the higher altitude. The males try to attract the females by the body displays like bobbing the head crest and by fanning their tail feathers. They use various call to communicate their attraction towards a bird which could be in its foraging group or the intruding ones. The breeding season of the Himalayan Monal falls during the months of April to August.