Mrs. Hume’s Pheasant

News: Lurh Tlang Vavu Sanctuary in Farkawn village of Champhai district has become Mizoram’s first community-led forest dedicated to the sole conservation of Mrs. Hume’s pheasant, the state bird of Mizoram.

About Mrs. Hume’s Pheasant

• It is also known as the bar-tailed pheasant.
• It is the state bird of Mizoram and Manipur.
• Naming: The name commemorates Mary Ann Grindall Hume, wife of the British naturalist A. O. Hume, one of the key founders of the Indian National Congress.
• Habitat and Distribution
  • Habitat: It inhabits open, dry, subtropical evergreen (mainly oak), coniferous (chiefly pine) or mixed conifer-broadleaf forests on steep, rocky hillsides interrupted by scrub and grassy clearings.
  • Distribution: It is endemic to China, Myanmar, Thailand, Burma and India.
    • In India, it is found in Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh.
• Characteristics
  • The pheasant is up to 90 cm long with a greyish brown head, bare red facial skin, chestnut brown plumage, yellowish bill.
  • It has metallic blue neck feathers.
  • The male has a long greyish white, barred black and brown tail.
  • The female is a chestnut brown bird with whitish throat, buff colour belly and white-tipped tail.
• Threats
  • Habitat loss and fragmentation due to shifting cultivation
  • Deforestation
  • Hunted for food
  • Trade of meat
• IUCN Status: Vulnerable