About Mrs. Humes Pheasants

Photo Source: Wikipedia.org

The Mrs. Hume's Pheasant, also known as the Hume's Pheasant or the Bar-tailed Pheasant, is a bird that inhabits the forests of Mizoram, Patkai Range, Yunnan, and northern parts of Myanmar and Thailand. This elusive species, measuring up to 90 cm in length, boasts a grayish brown head, a bare red face, chestnut brown feathers, a yellowish bill, brownish orange irises, white wing bars, and metallic blue neck feathers.

The male pheasant boasts a long tail with black, brown, and grayish white markings, while the female is a chestnut brown bird with a whitish throat, a buff belly, and a white-tipped tail. This rare bird feeds primarily on vegetation, and the female lays three to twelve creamy white eggs in a nest made of leaves, twigs, and feathers.

Named in honor of Mary Ann Grindall Hume, wife of British naturalist Allan Octavian Hume, the Mrs. Hume's Pheasant is the state bird of Mizoram and Manipur. Unfortunately, the species is under threat due to ongoing habitat loss, fragmented populations, and hunting for food, leading to its evaluation as "Near Threatened" on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.