Relative abundances of all three pheasant species were significantly higher (in 2008) than in previous surveys," says Miller in her paper titled "Himalayan pheasants in the Great Himalayan National Park" published in the Indian Birds journal in 2010. In 1999, the government legally notified the park and the authorities began enforcing the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act. "Surveys conducted in the late 1990s indicated that pheasant populations in the park were declining. Miller, who studied the park in April-May 2008 during the US Fulbright Student Research Scholarship, says the populations of three pheasant species - western tragopan, koklas and Himalayan monal - in the Great Himalayan National Park have grown since surveyed in the late 1990s. It's the least studied bird in the world.īeing a shy bird, it is rarely sighted and is found at an altitude of 2,000 to 3,600 metres in the temperate forests of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.
The western tragopan belongs to the family Phasianidae, which also includes peafowl and red jungle fowl. In this method, it is assumed that each call can be equated to a breeding pair, Srivastav said. In the estimation, every male call is counted, which gives an index of the population in a specified area," Srivastav said, adding, "The mating call is different from the distress call."ĭuring the estimation, all teams were given Global Positioning Systems (GPS) and data sheets to record the altitude and the calls of the tragopan. "The male tragopan gives a loud chorus before dawn during the breeding season. Srivastav attributed the increase to management strategies in terms of protection through regular patrolling of the area.įrom March-end till mid-June, all pheasant species breed. "This exercise is now part of regular monitoring protocol being followed in the park to ascertain the status of population dynamics of the western tragopan."Īs per the estimation figures of the last two-three years, it is clear that the population of the western tragopan is on the rise. Srivastav said that estimation was done at 18 locations. One of the standard census techniques is recording their call counts at a specified time and location. Last year, it was six birds per sq km, while it was just five birds in 2010," said Park Director Ajay Srivastav.įor population estimation, the western tragopan, like other pheasant species, needs specialised techniques.
In general, eared pheasant males have more noticeable spurs than the narrow spurs of the hens, and their face wattles are larger."The density of the western tragopan in the park was 6.5 birds per sq km (in this year's census). When it comes to silver pheasants, males are black and white with beautiful patterns, while females are brown however, they both have red faces and legs. Himalayan monal hens also have distinctively delicate markings as compared to the male, who at 10 weeks old has developed black markings on its chest and the back of the neck as well as shimmering metallic multicolor feathers. The rooster of the Lady Amherst's pheasant has stronger markings and contrasting black and white as compared to the hen, who has dull brown feathers with creamy markings on the breast. In the picture below you can see a female golden pheasant. By the time chicks are around 3 months old, males have colored markings on the back and base of the tail, a noticeable golden crest, and their eyes change color to a very pale yellow. They show similar outer coloring, which makes sexing them tougher. Green pheasant males have shorter tails as opposed to common pheasants, while green pheasant hens are darker, with dots on the belly and breast.
In the case of the green pheasant, distinguishing between the male and the female is much harder. Individuals of the same subspecies can show flavistic (fawn) or melanistic (black) mutations, as well as other color variations. Coloring is not always the easy way to sex pheasants.
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