Cheer Pheasant
Catreus wallichii
A large, pale pheasant with a long tail, an untidy crest, and red skin around the eye. The male is pale gray, barred throughout, with thick black bands on the tail, a rust-colored lower back, and a dark belly. The female is browner with white streaks on the body, white bars on the tail, a rust-colored belly, and black spots on the breast. Shy, often found in small groups along steep, grassy hillsides in the Himalayas. Quite noisy, usually delivering a series of thin and scratchy notes.
Identification
These birds lack the color and brilliance of most pheasants, with buffy gray plumage and long, gray crests. Its long tail has 18 feathers and the central tail feathers are much longer and the colour is mainly gray and brown. The female is slightly smaller in overall size.
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Catreus wallichii
- Authority
- (Hardwicke, 1827)
- Order
- Galliformes
- Family
- Phasianidae
- Genus
- Catreus
Range and habitat
The cheer pheasant is distributed in the highlands and scrublands of the Himalaya region of India, Nepal and Pakistan. They are found mainly in western Nepal, Uttarakhand (Kumaon and Garhwal), Himachal Pradesh (Shimla, Kullu and Chamba), and Jammu and Kashmir in northwestern India, and Hazara division, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in northern Pakistan. Surveys in 1981 and 2003 in the Dhorpatan area of western Nepal established 70 calling sites, suggesting substantial numbers exist in this area (about 200 birds). In another survey in 2010, cheer pheasants were detected in 21 calling sites in Kullu district of Himachal Pradesh. They are found mainly above 6000 feet altitude and up to 10000 feet in summer.
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
Males are monogamous. They breed on steep cliffs during summer with a clutch of 10 to 11 eggs.In studies conducted in upper Beas Valley, cheer pheasant was found to be sensitive to human disturbance.
Conservation
Due to ongoing habitat loss, small population size, and hunting in some areas, the cheer pheasant is evaluated as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. It is listed on Appendix I of CITES. Attempts to reintroduce captive-bred cheer pheasants in Pakistan have been unsuccessful.
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
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