Kingdom : Animalia
Phylum : Chordata
Class : Aves
Order : Galliformes
Family : Phasianidae
Genus : Ophrysia
Species : Ophrysia superciliosa
Himalayan Quail is the Holy Grail for birders in India, simply because it hasn’t been seen. It lives in the lower elevations of the Western Himalayas, in mountain slopes covered by thick grass.
For the last 139 years, the bird not seen ansd so it should have been declared extinct, but the Himalayan Quail is not just any bird. Even Salim Ali, the celebrated ornithologist coulnt findout this bird.
As per Salim Ali, the habitat requirements of the species were similar to the Cheer Pheasant steep mountain slopes, tall grass and bush made it extremely difficult to spot these small birds.
Recently in February 2015, Dunn et al. could compare the habitats of the Cheer Pheasant and the Himalayan Monal to shortlist the five sites where the Mountain Quail may have existed.
Courtesy: http://mintonsunday.livemint.com
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