Blyth's tragopan belongs to the pheasant family Phasianidae. They are distributed in Bhutan, north-east India, Myanmar, Tibet and China. Their population is on the decline. It is estimated to be only about 10,000 birds. These birds prefers the undergrowth of evergreen oak and rhododendron forests. There are two subspecies and one of the subspecies, T. b. blythii, is found in the Himalayas of northeast India, southwest China and northern Myanmar.
These species are largest among the genus. True to pheasants the males are brightly colored. The head is colored rusty red and the plumage is spotted with white dots. As in other members of the genus, the males have two pale blue horns. The females are dark brown with white mottling. They feed on insects, worms, seeds, berries, pods, fruits and buds.
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| Indian bird - Blyth's tragopan |
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| Andrew Nicholson | CC BY-NC 2.0 as on 6/3/18 |
| Biological classification | |
|---|---|
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Galliformes |
| Family: | Phasianidae |
| Subfamily: | Phasianinae |
| Genus: | Tragopan |
| Species: | T. blythii |
| Binomial name: | Tragopan blythii |
| Distribution: | Bhutan, north-east India, Himalayan India, north Myanmar, south-east Tibet and China; |
| Feeding habits: | seeds, berries, fruits, and buds; |
| IUCN status listing: | Vulnerable |
Image source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Tragopan_blythii01.jpg
Author: JoJan | License: CC BY-SA 3.0
Current topic in Birds of India: Blyth's tragopan - Tragopan blythii.