The himalayan monal Patch#

I'm pleased to say they have devoured a multitude of dockens in their aviaries. They use their very powerful beaks to dig up tubers, roots, insects and grubs etc. They find a great deal of their diet through their incessant digging. The reason for this is their love of digging. We use grassy aviaries measuring 432 square feet to accommodate them and even with this space we use a rotation system to keep them on grass. Monals are very easy birds to care for as long as they have plenty of room.

The Monal hen is predominantly brown as is often the case with females but she has a white throat and has, like the male, the most beautiful azure blue colouring around the eye. All of the front from the throat down is black.

The himalayan monal Patch#

He also has a short bright tan brown tail and a white patch on the rump. He has a shimmering crest with the same metallic properties. It consists mainly of metallic colours including blue, green, red and purple. The Himalayan Monal is a large heavily built bird, the male of which has spectacular plumage. They are also indigenous to areas in Eastern Afghanistan, Pakistan and further east to Tibet, Bhutan and Myanmar.

Their range is widespread and not confined only to the Himalayas. The Himalayan Monal is the national bird of Nepal and as the name suggests inhabits the Himalayan Mountains at high altitudes which can be anything from around 2000m to over 4000m. There are another two species in the Lophophorus genus, namely the Chinese Monal and the even rarer Sclaters Monal. The Himalayan or Impeyan Monal is the only Monal pheasant regularly seen in captivity. Monal will dig in the soil to find grass seeds, so the best chance is to find them on slopes or around big rocks.Himalayan Monal Pheasant (Lophophorus impeyanus) As these birds are shy, they tend to stay away from the human tracks. The task of locating becomes tougher if the soil is wet with dew in the mornings.īe patient and slow in your movements, pay attention to the area away from the trekking trails. Female Monal can hide in the long grass growing over and around these rocks. Male Monal who are more colorful and radiate in the sunlight are easy to find but they can mix well with Metamorphic Rocks due to their similar colors. This is an intelligent bird and knows his territory well. Monals are very shy (as most of the pheasants are) and have the tendency to hide in case they feel threatened. One has to trek for about 600 meters to reach the meadow where Monals are normally seen foraging for grass seeds and the trek is pretty steep. The real issues start when you reach Chopta and start your search. The above mention issues are not so big that they will stop anyone from pursuing the Himalayan Monals search. Monals do community roost in this season and chances of sightings are very high. Snowfall is very less till Mid-December with temperatures around 5 degrees Celsius during the day and -1 to - 10 during the night.

Also, this is the time for their breeding season. Lesser numbers of humans mean higher numbers of Monal. Tungnath temple is not open till the first week of May. Go either in April or in late November to mid-December. This inflow of humans pushes the Monals deep in the forest. During the summers, from the day when gates of the temple open, there is a huge inflow of worshipers. This area also receives a good amount of snowfall and roads can get closed till authorities open them again. During the winters, temperatures can drop down to as low as -20 degrees celsius in the night. It is also the starting point of the 4 KM trek to Tungnath Temple. There’s no electricity and everything runs on solar power. Due to this, the lodging options are only a few campsites, some very basic budget hotels, and a high-end resort. Chopta is at the height of some 2600 meters amid thick forest of high altitude trees, which is also a National Park for Musk Deer.