Mrs. Hume's Pheasant

The Mrs. Hume's Pheasant, Syrmaticus humiae is a species of pheasant found in China; India; Myanmar and Thailand.

Other names
Mrs Hume's Pheasant (note the lack of full stop after Mrs.)

Desciption
The male is 90 cm while the female is 60 cm.

The male is chestnut and blue-black, with white banding along scapulars and across wings, and has greyish rump and long greyish tail that is narrowly banded with chestnut and black.

The female is mainly grey-brown (marked with black) on upperparts, and pale rufous-brown (barred with buff) on underparts. Has suggestion of greyish band along scapulars, and narrow whitish wingbars. Tail is shorter than the male's; the tail feathers are tipped with white and outer tail feathers are mainly chestnut.

Similar species
It is closely related to the Elliot's Pheasant, but Mrs. Hume's Pheasant has a chestnut abdomen and flanks.

Diet
Gives a repeated cackling waaak notes; also a sharp tuk tuk and a loud screech in alarm.

Distribution/habitat
Resident, NE India. Lives in steep rocky slopes with open oak and pine forest, and long grass and bushes.