Cheer pheasant

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title: "Cheer pheasant" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["pheasants", "phasianini", "birds-of-north-india", "birds-of-nepal", "birds-of-pakistan", "endemic-birds-of-the-himalayas", "birds-described-in-1827"] description: "Species of bird" topic_path: "geography/india" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheer_pheasant" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Species of bird ::

| name = Cheer pheasant | image = Catreus wallichii -Kyoto Zoo-Japan-8a.jpg | image_caption = At Kyoto Zoo, Japan | status = VU | status_system = IUCN3.1 | status_ref = | status2 = CITES_A1 | status2_system = CITES | status2_ref = | genus = Catreus | parent_authority = Cabanis, 1851 | display_parents = 2 | species = wallichii | authority = (Hardwicke, 1827)

The cheer pheasant (Catreus wallichii), also known as Wallich's pheasant or chir pheasant, is a vulnerable species of the pheasant family, Phasianidae. It is the only member in the genus Catreus. The scientific name commemorates Danish botanist Nathaniel Wallich.

Description

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/96/Cheer_Pheasant_(male).JPG" caption="Cheer pheasant (male) at Pangot, Nainital, Uttarakhand, India"] ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/57/Cheer_Pheasant_pair_at_winter_village_of_lata_on_the_periphery_of_Nanda_Devi_National_Park.jpg" caption="Pair of cheer pheasants near winter Lata village on the periphery of Nanda Devi National Park" alt="Cheer pheasant pair sighted near Lata village, Nanda Devi National Park"] ::

These birds lack the color and brilliance of most pheasants, with buffy gray plumage and long, gray crests. Its long tail has 18 feathers and the central tail feathers are much longer and the colour is mainly gray and brown. The female is slightly smaller in overall size.

Behaviour and ecology

Males are monogamous. They breed on steep cliffs during summer with a clutch of 10 to 11 eggs. In studies conducted in upper Beas Valley, cheer pheasant was found to be sensitive to human disturbance.Jolli, Virat & Pandit, M. K. (2011). " Influence of Human Disturbance on the Abundance of Himalayan Pheasant (Aves, Galliformes) in the Temperate Forest of Western Himalaya, India". Vestnik Zoologii 45 (6): e40-e47.

Habitat and distribution

The cheer pheasant is distributed in the highlands and scrublands of the Himalaya region of India, Nepal and Pakistan. They are found mainly in western Nepal, Uttarakhand (Kumaon and Garhwal), Himachal Pradesh (Shimla, Kullu and Chamba), and Jammu and Kashmir in northwestern India, and Hazara division, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in northern Pakistan. Surveys in 1981 and 2003 in the Dhorpatan area of western Nepal established 70 calling sites, suggesting substantial numbers exist in this area (about 200 birds).{{Cite web |url=http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/sitefactsheet.php?id=14328 |title=Dhorpatan Hunting Reserve |work=birdlife.org |publisher=Birdlife International |access-date=14 January 2011

Status and conservation

Due to ongoing habitat loss, small population size, and hunting in some areas, the cheer pheasant is evaluated as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. It is listed on Appendix I of CITES. Attempts to reintroduce captive-bred cheer pheasants in Pakistan have been unsuccessful.{{Cite web |url=http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/species/index.html?action=SpcHTMDetails.asp&sid=266&m=0 |title=Cheer Pheasant Catreus wallichi |work=birdlife.org |publisher=Birdlife International |access-date=8 December 2010

Gallery

Catreus wallichii.jpg|Cheer pheasant pair from Himalaya, India Catreus wallichii hm.jpg|Painting from Hume and Marshall, 1880, Gamebirds of India, Burma, Ceylon

References

References

1. BirdLife International. (2017). "''Catreus wallichii''".
2. "Appendices {{!}} CITES".
3. Baker, EC Stuart (1918) The game birds of India, Burmay and Ceylon. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 26(1):1-5 [https://archive.org/details/journalofbombayn26bomb scan]
4. Lelliott, A.D.(1981) Cheer Pheasants in west-central Nepal. World Pheasant Assoc. 6:89-95
5. "PSG Project round-up". [[Pheasant Specialist Group]].
6. (2011). "Patch occupancy for cheer pheasant Catreus wallichii in the Great Himalayan National Park Conservation Area". International Journal of Galliformes Conservation.
7. "Appendices I, II and III". [[CITES]].

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::