- Tetraogallus himalayensis
Identification
Bird linked is an adult male of the nominate race himalayensis shot near Chang La Pass (ca. 5000 masl), Ladakh, Ind.
The Himalayan Snowcock (Tetraogallus himalayensis) is a snowcock in the pheasant family Phasianidae of the order Galliformes, gallinaceous birds.
This is a 54-72 cm long bird. Its plumage is patterned with grey, brown, white and black, but this snowcock looks grey from any distance. The breast is pale with horizontal blackish streaking. This bird has a thin brown collar at the base of its white throat.
Distribution
It is endemic to the Himalayan Mountains, where it breeds at altitudes from 3600-5100 m on bare stony mountains.
Himalayan Snowcocks have been introduced to the Ruby Mountains of northeastern Nevada in the United States where a small sustaining population of approximately 250-500 birds exists.
Behaviour
It nests in a bare ground scrape and lays typically 5-10 eggs, which are incubated only by the female. Both parents raise the young. Its food is seeds and vegetable matter. Himalayan Snowcock fly downslope in the morning and feed as they walk uphill as the day wears on. It forms small flocks when not breeding.
