Kalij Pheasant

The kalij pheasant is a forest pheasant of the Himalayan foothills. Males vary with the subspecies but all have at least partly glossy bluish-black plumage, while females are brownish. Both sexes have a bare red face and greyish legs, which separate it from the red-legged silver pheasant. Males are 63–74 cm long and females 50–60 cm. In the western and central subspecies most of the male's plumage is blue-black, often with white on the rump or underparts, and in the westernmost one the crest is white (Wikipedia, general species account).

It is found in forests and thickets from India, Nepal and Pakistan to western Thailand. The Government of Jammu and Kashmir declared it the bird of the Union Territory in 2021. Nine subspecies fall into two groups, one in the west and centre of its range and one in the east, where males have blue-black underparts and crest but white or very pale grey upperparts. SoIB 2023 rates it a Low conservation priority, with an inconclusive long-term trend and a Moderate range (Wikipedia, general species account; SoIB 2023).