The head is bright green, the eyes ringed with blue and the neck reddish brown. The male Himalayan monal possesses a wiry, metallic green head-crest that is absent in other monal species, as well as a chestnut brown tail, light brown wings and a white rump that is visible in flight. The iridescent rainbow-like plumage of the male is surpassed only by the slightly larger Chinese monal ( Lophophorus lhuysii). This method of foraging leaves conspicuous areas of turned over soil up to 25 cm deep on hillsides (2).Ī stunningly colourful member of the pheasant family, the Himalayan monal is the national bird of Nepal. Like many of the pheasants, quails and partridges in the Phasianidae family, the Himalayan monal has very strong legs and a long, curved beak which together enable it to dig into the hard soil of the mountains to uncover seeds, tubers, shoots, berries, and insects. After six months the young are completely independent and must search for food and mates alone (5). The female must incubate the eggs alone, but the male will stand guard throughout the 27-day incubation period and until fledging to protect the eggs and chicks from predators.

Once a female notices his display they mate and shortly afterwards she scrapes a nest in the ground and lays between three and five eggs. The male switches from calling only in the early morning to calling throughout the day. The breeding season begins in April when the monals are at higher altitudes. Males also use body displays to attract females bobbing the head-crest and fanning their tail feathers. I hope to use it as a way of encouraging critical thinking, looking at scientific papers that are relevant to the Level 3 curriculum and to Scholarship.A highly communicative bird, the Himalayan monal uses several different call types to express meaning to its mate, other birds in its foraging group, or intruding birds. This blog in response to comments from secondary school biology teachers.

In species where there’s little dimorphism, it’s often associated with monogamous breeding patterns, & as a general rule the type of breeding pattern in a given species is linked to the species’ ecology.

Strongly dimorphic species are often polygamous – more usually polygynous, with dominant males mating with several females during the breeding season phalaropes, however, are polyandrous, with the more brightly-coloured female laying eggs in the nests of several males and leaving them to incubate alone. The monal is a stand-out example of the eventual outcome. Such marked differences between the sexes are often due to intersexual selection, with females acting as the agents of selection & choosing their mates on the basis of physical appearance, or other attributes that give information on the male’s quality. This stunning bird ( Lophophorus impejanus) is a type of pheasant, and like other pheasants the species is strongly sexually dimorphic: the males are dressed in gorgeous irisdescent plumage, while the females’ plumage is dark brown apart for white patches on throat & rump, & the same bright blue circle round the eyes. ( Image via Facebook: Tambako the Jaguar Flickr - with Robin Subba, Sarvesh Wangawad, Jeriko Angue, Roberto Delapisa, Jonas Mgr, Neelesh Suryavanshi, Shashank Asai, Sushant Bhujel and Pabitra Lamichhane.) Another for the ‘gosh, isn’t this beautiful?!’ files: the Himalayan Monal (the national bird of Nepal).

Male himalayan monal pheasant