Western Tragopan, One of the Endangered Species of Bird on Earth

The Western Tragopan is a highly endangered species of pheasant, which is found in the Himalayan region, in between the Hazara, in north Pakistan to the western part of Uttarakhand, in India.

  The Western Tragopan is a medium sized brightly coloured species of pheasant, found in the region of Kullu, Kichtwar, Kaghan valley, Chamba, Kohistan and in the eastern parts of Satluj River.

Identification

The male genders of the species range in 68-73 cm in length, while the female gender is usually 60 cm. The Western Tragopan has orange to red colours on their necks, red facial skin and white spots on their black belly. 

The male genders in the species are mainly differentiated with the red facial skin and mostly black base-colour of lower breast to vent. They are very dark and their throat is bare with blue skin. The female genders can be identified by the duller and greyer base-colour to upperparts and particularly the under parts. Their feathers have black patches and central white streaks. The species generates voice territorial call, nasal, wailing, khuwaah, which is repeated for about 7 to 15 times during the mating season. They generate sudden waa waa waa when they are agitated.

The males are larger in size with longer legs, including variable amount of black on head and red on neck.  The males weigh around 1.8 to 2.2 kg and the females weigh around 1.25 to 1.4 kg.  

Habits

The Western Tragopan generally lives in small families and is believed to have a gentle behavior. These birds have extremely shy nature due to which they are very difficult to spot in the wilderness. That is why this species was lately discovered by the mankind. These birds are generally counted in numbers by their mating calls, which are heard during the breeding season. 

This species is generally habitat in the altitude of 1,750 m to 3,600 m, in summers as well as winters, as it prefers the dense temperate, subalpine and broad-leaved forest. They mostly feed on ground, on seeds, shoots, leaves, roots, flowers, berries, shoots and at times, they also eat insects and other invertebrates. Like most of the pheasant species, they live in the trees singly or in pairs, during the time of nesting.

Their mating starts in the month of April, when the male genders initiate their territorial calling perches, to attract the female genders. The mating season occurs between the months of April to June. Western Tragopan builds a simple nest on the ground or in trees, usually suing the straws and leaves of other abandoned nests of other species.  The female Western Tragopan hatches two to six eggs at a time and the male feeds the chicks, once they are hatched. The species live in families during the autumn and winter and alike other Tragopan species, they disperse during the spring season, when the mating season initiates.

There has been a very high decline in the numbers of Western Tragopan, as per the records, there are only around 5000 individuals existing on the earth today. Due to the alarming number of Western Tragopan left, it has been featured as an endangered species, on the Red List of the International Union Conservation of Nature.