Despite its large size, it is a gentle bird. The Monal is the National bird of Nepal as well as state bird of Uttarakhand. Earlier Himanchal Pradesh's state bird was also Monal but it was later replaced by western Tragopan also known as jujurana. It is known as Danphe in Nepal and Monal in India. The common name of this beautiful bird is Himalayan Monal, Local name Monal and Zoological Name is Lophophorus impejanus. It is, also known as the Impeyan monal, Impeyan pheasant, a bird of the pheasant family,Phasianidae.

Lady Mary Impey, the wife of the British chief justice of Bengal, was the first person who kept these pheasants in captivity and later the bird got its scientific name after her. The following two paragraphs are the description of the appearance of this colourful bird. You may skip directly to the photographs of the Monal. As someone rightly said that "a picture is worth a thousand words".

Male Himalayan Monal has bright colourful combination of blue, green, purple, light yellow, brown, black and red feathers. They have a white patch of feathers underneath the base of their tail. The breast and underparts are black. The nape is a bright yellow patch which forms the top edge of the bluish black wings and the purplish black back. The chestnut brown/ copper coloured tail, light brown wings and a white rump is visible in flight. The head is bright green, and the males have a metallic-green crest on top of their heads. They have bare patch of turquoise blue skin around the eye. The tail feathers are uniformly rufous (reddish brown in colour) being darker towards the tips. The tail feathers of the male are uniformly rufous which becomes darker towards the tips. The female Himalayan Monal looks completely different from the male. Male Monal is more beautiful, stunning in color and large in size. Females are duller than the males. Females have greyish brown upper-parts with white stick lines and black spots. The under parts of female is light greyish brown with white stick lines. Their upper parts are covered with spotted brownish-black feathers. The throat of females is white. The lower tail coverts of females are white, marked with black and rufous. The female also has a crest.

The first-year male and the juvenile resemble the female, but the first-year male is larger and the markings are less distinct. The females and the chicks appear brownish. Their feathers also have few white and black strips. Size of adult Himalayan Monal is 60 to 72 cm. The weight of adult is between 1.70 to 2.40 kg. Males are slightly larger and heavier than females. They prefer open, coniferous or mixed forests resplendent with rhododendron and bamboo. Himalayan Monal inhibits in cold and high altitude, remaining between 2000 (in winter) and 4500 meters above sea level. They have a great tolerance for cold/ snow and can be easily seen in snow digging in it for food.

They are great diggers and use their heavy beak not only for foraging throughout the day for tubers, seeds and insects but also for satisfying their digging urge. Their inhabitant territory can be easily identified by the holes and dug up area created by Monal breeds only once in a year in the month of April to August. They are seen in pairs during this period. Males start calling throughout the day and use body displays to attract females, bobbing the head-crest and fanning their tail feathers. Males generally become aggressive in the mating season. After the acceptance by female they start mating. The bird attains sexual maturity between one to two years of age. Monal uses different types of call to communicate with other birds of group/ family. Later she builds a simple nest in the ground. Two to five numbers of eggs are usually laid by her, which are white (or dull/ muddy white), with brown spots and paler appearance. Eggs are incubated by female for around 26 to 29 days and the male stands guard throughout the incubation period. After six months the young starts searching for food on their own.

Beautiful Monal is an endangered species and is included in Wild Life Protection act of 1972. The beauty and charm of this bird had become a curse of itself. The number of these species was declining because of its beautiful feathers. Skins of these birds were used as showpiece by filling hay. The male's crest was used as an adornment of hat by people. It is assumed a symbol of power & authority and it brings status to its wearer. This species got some relief, when hunting was banned in the state in 1982. They are found mainly in himalayan regions of India, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nepal, Tibet, Bhutan and Burma. India most specifically, they are found in Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh.