Travels in Nepal #23 Himalayan Monal
Himalayan Monal, Nepal's National Bird
On the acclimatisation day at Namche Bazar one of the highlights was adding a number of new birds to my “life list.” A birder’s “life list” is a list of all the species seen in one’s lifetime. For me this list stands at a meagre 369 out of a world list of nearly ten thousand. Of those 369 I added 55 of them in Nepal during my visit last January.
In Namche Bazar I saw a flock of Snow Pigeons and several Yellow Billed Choughs (also called the Alpine Chough). I was particularly “chuffed’ to see the choughs as it was one of my target species to see. We have an unrelated species, the White Winged Chough, resident near where we live in South Australia. A flock regularly visits our garden.
One species of bird I saw in Nepal will never be recorded in our home garden, the Himalayan Monal. This turkey sized bird has stunning colours on its wings. On the trek we saw several flocks if this beautiful bird but they were too quick for me to photograph. The above photo was taken in a museum. According to the Lonely Planet Guide, the Monal has a peculiar habit. It doesn’t really fly but prefers to glide instead. If it wants to go uphill, it walks instead of flying.
Links:
- Trevor’s Birding – my birding blog.
- Travels in Nepal – archives of my travels in Nepal.
[…] Himalayan Monal – national bird of Nepal. […]