Sclater's Monal
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| Lophophorus sclateri Jerdon, 1870 |
The Sclater's Monal, Lophophorus sclateri also known as Crestless Monal is a large, up to 68cm long, monal of east Himalayas region. The male is a colorful 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. The tail is white, with a broad chestnut band. The crestless female is mostly a dark brown bird with white throat, pale yellow bill and barred below.
The Sclater's Monal is distributed to mountain forests of southeast China, northern Myanmar and northeast India, at altitudes of 2,500 to 4,200 m. The males of recently discovered population of Arunachal Pradesh of India has an all white tail. The diet consists mainly of seeds and flowers. The female usually lays three to five eggs.
The name commemorates the British zoologist Philip Lutley Sclater.
Due to ongoing habitat loss, small population size, limited range and hunting in some areas for food and its feathers, the Sclater's Monal is evaluated as Vulnerable on IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. It is listed on Appendix I of CITES.
[edit] References
- BirdLife International (2004). Lophophorus sclateri. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 25 November 2006. Database entry includes a brief justification of why this species is vulnerable and the criteria used
