Cheer pheasant: Difference between revisions

{{Taxobox

| name = Cheer Pheasant

| status = LC

| status_ref = <ref name=iucn>BirdLife International. 2012. [http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/100600266/0 ''Catreus wallichi''.] In: IUCN 2012. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2012.2. Downloaded on 14 June 2013.</ref>

| classis = [[Aves]]

| familia = [[Phasianidae]]

| genus = '''''Catreus'''''

| genus_authority = [[Jean Cabanis|Cabanis]], 1851

| species = '''''C. wallichii'''''

| binomial = ''Catreus wallichii''

| binomial_authority = ([[Thomas Hardwicke|Hardwicke]], 1827)

The [[species]] was named as ''Phasianus wallichi'' by the [[English people|English]] [[Zoology|zoologist]] [[Thomas Hardwicke]] in 1827; he named it after the [[Denmark|Danish]] [[botanist]] [[Nathaniel Wallich]]. Later the name was changed to the present name by the English [[ornithologist]] [[John Gould]].<ref name="beebe">{{cite book | last =Beebe | first =William | title =A monograph of the pheasants | publisher =Witherby & Co. | location =London | year =1918 |volume=3 |pages=49-66 | isbn = }} Available on line in [https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/107684#page/93/mode/1up Biodiversity Heritage Library]</ref>

The Cheer pheasant lacks the color and brilliance of most [[pheasant]]s. The male has a [[brown]]ish [[yellow]] [[Feather|plumage]] with black [[:wikt:marking|markings]] and a long gray [[crest]]; the [[skin]] of the face is red. Its long tail is mainly gray and brown,<ref name="gbwf">{{Cite web |url=http://www.gbwf.org/pheasants/cheer.html |title=Cheer Pheasant, Catreus wallichi |publisher=gbwf.org |format= |work= |accessdate=18 June 2013 |archive-date=3 October 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121003083726/http://www.gbwf.org/pheasants/cheer.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> and has 18 feathers, something that puts this pheasant apart from similar species.<ref name="beebe1">{{cite book | last =Beebe | first =William | title =A monograph of the pheasants | publisher =Witherby & Co. | location =London | year =1918 |volume=1 |pages=XXVII | isbn = }} Available on line in [https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/34629314#page/43/mode/1up Biodiversity Heritage Library]</ref>

The female is smaller than the male, somewhat [[:wikt:dull|dull]]er in plumage and more heavily marked, with reduced red [[Face|facial]] skin, a shorter crest and lacking the male’s [[:en:wikt:spur|spurs]].<ref name="gbwf" />

 

[[File:Catreus wallichii -Kyoto Zoo-Japan-8a.jpg|upright|thumb|left|Head of Cheer pheasant at [[Kyoto Municipal Zoo|Kyoto Zoo]], [[Japan]]]]

The Cheer pheasant is [[endemic]] to the western [[Himalayas]];<ref name="Jolli">{{cite journal|last1=Jolli|first1=Virat|last2=Srivastav|first2=A|last3=Thakur|first3=S|year=2011|title=Patch occupancy for cheer pheasant Catreus wallichii in the Great Himalayan National Park Conservation Area|journal=International Journal of Galliformes Conservation|volume=2|pages=74&ndash;81|url=http://www.pheasant.org.uk/uploads/Pages_74-81_Joli_et_al_Patch_occupancy_for_Cheer_Pheasant.pdf|format=PDF|accessdate=18 June 2013}}</ref> it is distributed in the highlands and [[scrubland]]s (a place where small shrubs are abundant as well as small [[herbaceous plant]]s, without [[tree]]s) of the southern foothills, most frequently from {{Convert|1455|to|3050|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} of the western [[Himalayas]], from north [[Pakistan]], through [[Kashmir]], [[Himachal Pradesh]] and [[Uttaranchal]], [[India]], to east to central [[Nepal]].<ref name=iucn />

 

 

[[File:Catreus wallichii.jpg|thumb|Cheer pheasant pair from Himalaya, India]]

==Biology and social behaviour==

These pheasants tend to be fairly [[:en:wikt:gregarious|gregarious]] (traveling in groups) for much of the year, with groups of five to fifteen birds, but form [[Monogamy|monogamous]] pairs during the [[:wikt:breed|breeding]] season from late April to June.<ref name="pakistan">{{Cite web |url=http://www.wildlifeofpakistan.com/Cheer_Pheasant.htm |title=Cheer Pheasant |work=Pheasants of Pakistan |publisher=Wildlife of Pakistan |accessdate=18 June 2013 }}</ref> They breed on steep [[cliff]]s during summer and the number of [[Cleidoic egg|eggs]] in a [[nest]] is relatively large; there are usually ten to eleven eggs in each nest, though in some cases there as many as 14.<ref name="baker">{{cite journal|url= |last=Baker |first=E.C. Stuart |format= |title=The game birds of India, Burmay and Ceylon. Part XXV |journal=J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. |year=1918 |volume=26 |issue=1 |pages=1-5 |location=Bombay |accessdate=18 June 2013|issn=}} Available on line in [https://archive.org/stream/journalofbombayn26bomb#page/n52/mode/1up Internet Archive]</ref>

 

The Cheer pheasants get most of their food from the [[ground]], [[:wikt:digging|digging]] with is powerful [[beak]]s; they eat [[root]]s, [[tuber]]s, [[bulb]]s, [[seed]]s, [[insect]]s and other small animals. They look for food mainly during the morning and evening, walking in pairs or, sometimes, in family groups.<ref name="pakistan" />

In studies made in upper Beas Valley, it was found that the Cheer pheasants were sensitive to the presence of humans.<ref name="Jolli"/><ref>Jolli, Virat & Pandit, M. K. (2011). " Influence of Human Disturbance on the Abundance of Himalayan Pheasant (Aves, Galliformes) in the Temperate Forest of Western Himalaya, India". Vestnik Zoologii 45 (6): e40­-e47. {{doi|10.2478/v10058-011-0035-0}}

==Conservation==

Due to ongoing [[habitat]] loss, small population size and [[hunting]] in some areas, the Cheer pheasant is evaluated as [[Vulnerable species|Vulnerable]] on the [[IUCN Red List]] of Threatened Species.<ref name=iucn /> It is listed on Appendix I of [[CITES]].<ref name="cites_appendix">{{Cite web

|url=http://www.cites.org/eng/app/appendices.php |title=Appendices I, II and III of CITES |work=cites.org |publisher=[[CITES]] |accessdate=18 June 2013 }}</ref> The Cheer pheasant is legally protected in Nepal and India, and occurs in at least 12 protected areas in Himachal Pradesh, three in Uttar Pradesh and three in Nepal.<ref name="birdlife">{{Cite web

|url=http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/species/index.html?action=SpcHTMDetails.asp&sid=266&m=0 |title=Cheer Pheasant ''Catreus wallichi'' |work=birdlife.org |publisher=Birdlife International|accessdate=18 June 2013 }}</ref>

Attempts to reintroduce captive bred Cheer pheasants in [[Pakistan]] have been unsuccessful.<ref name="birdlife" />

 

==Gallery==

File:BirdsAsiaJohnGoVIIGoul 0080.jpg|''Catreus wallichi'', in<br />Birds of Asia

File:Catreus wallichii by OpenCage.jpg|''Catreus wallichii''<br />(Wallich's pheasant)

File:Pheasant at Sudeley Castle.jpg|Pheasant at Sudeley Castle, England

</center>

{{Reflist|2}}

{{commons category|Catreus wallichii}}

{{wikispecies|Catreus wallichii}}

* ARKive - [http://www.arkive.org/species/GES/birds/Catreus_wallichi/ images and movies of the Cheer Pheasant ''(Catreus wallichi)''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060619193056/http://www.arkive.org/species/GES/birds/Catreus_wallichi/ |date=2006-06-19 }}

[[Category:Birds of Kashmir]]

[[Category:Galliformes]]

[[Category:Birds of India]]