These pheasants usually roam single or in pairs, especially during their breeding season between April and August. The shrill curlew-like whistle of the Himalayan Monal is quite distinctive. Their tolerance to the snow is an added bonus to their lifestyle. These pheasants have heavy bills which they expertly use for digging out subterranean insects and tubers from the slopes as well. The Himalayan Monal spends most of its day foraging for insects, berries, shoots, and seeds. ( Koshy Koshy / Flickr) Behaviour of the Himalayan monal In general they maintain an altitude between 2,000 and 4,500m above the sea level. In the summers they move up to 16,000ft, wandering the grassy slopes above the tree-line. In the winter months they come down to 6,500ft. The Himalayan Monal is a high-altitude bird that practices altitudinal migration as the weather changes. Their preferred habitat also features rolling grassy slopes and cliffs, and an extensive understory of bamboo and rhododendron. These pheasants are typically found residing in the oak-conifer forests of cool upper temperate regions, such as the Himalayan hills. As a result, they have been included in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (2016), albeit as a species of вЂLeast ConcernвЂ™ (LC). The bird is almost extinct in Afghanistan, and their numbers are steadily reducing in other areas due to various anthropological factors. These birds are endemic to a vast belt including, Bhutan, China, Nepal, Pakistan, India (states of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttaranchal, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh), and even Myanmar. The scientific name of the bird is Lophophorus impejanus and it belongs to the Phasianidae family of the Galliformes order.

The Himalayan Monal, also known as the Impeyan Pheasant or Impeyan Monal, is a variety of pheasant found in the hilly forests of the Himalayan region.

Himalyan monal