Temminck’s Tragopan     Tragopan temminckii

Etymology: 

• Tragopan: Latin word for mythical, horned, purple headed bird
• Temminckii : Dutch ornithologist Coenraad Jacob Temminck (1778–1858) 

Vernacular Names: Tibetan: Bop

Distribution : Resident of East Himalayas in Arunachal Pradesh. 

Description: The size of  Male  is 64 cm ; tail size is 18·5–23 cm, weight of 980–1600 g. The female is. 58 cm ; tail size is. 16–17·5 cm, weight of 907–1100 g.

The male is  red above and below; large pearl grey spots on underparts is characteristic. The male has blue facial skin and inflatable lappet with eight scarlet patches on each side and inflatable greenish-blue horns.

The Female is rufous to greyish brown, mottled black above and pale brown with black patches and large oval whitish spots below. Female has orbital skin.

The Iris is brown, bill is black (with pinkish tip in male), and legs are pinkish red .

The juvenile like female. First-year male like adult female in colour, but has some black and red; also larger and longer-legged than female.

Habitat: It is found in dense evergreen or mixed forest and thick bamboo and rhododendron. It is found from 1200 m to 4000 m. In spring it is found at forest edges, rich in grass and bushes; in summer, it moves to areas of denser cover and abundant bushes; in autumn it preferred areas rich in fruits and in winter it returned to broadleaf and bamboo mixed forests.

Food habits:  It eats flowers, leaves, grass stalks, ferns, bamboo sprouts, mosses, berries and seeds of a wide variety of plant species and insects.

Breeding habits: They breed in May. They make a nest of dry leaves and branches, lined with feather. They lay a clutch of 3–5, with eggs laid every other day. The incubation is 26–28 days, done by female alone.