Sclater's monal

Sclater's monal (Lophophorus sclateri) also known as the crestless monal is a Himalayan pheasant. The name commemorates the British zoologist Philip Lutley Sclater.^[3]

Sclater's monal
Female (hen)
Conservation status
Vulnerable  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
CITES Appendix I (CITES)[2]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Galliformes
Family:	Phasianidae
Genus:	Lophophorus
Species:	L. sclateri
Binomial name
Lophophorus sclateri Jerdon, 1870

Taxonomy

Sclater's monal has three recognized subspecies:^[4]

• L. s. arunachalensis (Kumar & Singh, 2004)
• L. s. orientalis (Davison G.W.H., 1974)
• L. s. sclateri (Jerdon, 1870)

Description

Sclater's monal is a large, approximately 68 centimetres (27 in) long, monal pheasant. As with other monals, the male is a colourful bird. It has a highly iridescent purplish-green upperparts plumage, short and curly metallic green crown feathers, copper neck, purplish-black throat, white back, blue orbital skin, yellowish-orange bill and brown iris. In the nominate subspecies, the tail is white with a broad chestnut band, while the tail is entirely white in L. s. arunachalensis from western Arunachal Pradesh in India.^[5] The crestless female is mostly a dark brown bird with a white throat and tail-tip, dull bluish orbital skin and a pale yellow bill.

Male

Distribution and habitat

Sclater's monal is distributed to mountain forests of the east Himalayan region, in north-eastern India, south-eastern Tibet and northern Burma, at altitudes of 2,500 to 4,200 metres (8,200 to 13,800 ft).

Behaviour

The diet of the Sclater's monal, like that of other members of the genus Lophophorus, probably consists mainly of tubers, roots, bulbs, arthropods, rodents, seeds and flowers. The female usually lays between three and five eggs. It is not known if the male participates in nest defense, but it is likely.

Conservation

Due to ongoing habitat loss, small population size, limited range and overhunting in some areas for food and its feathers, Sclater's monal is evaluated as Vulnerable on IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. It is listed on Appendix I of CITES.