Cheer Pheasant Catreus wallichii

The Cheer Pheasant, named after the chir pine trees they roost in, lives high in the Himalayas in Nepal, northern India, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

The only species in its genus, the endangered population continues to decrease; shot for "sport" through the last century, it is still hunted and its eggs eaten.

Unusually for a pheasant, the male, top row, is not brightly coloured. He has brighter silver and gold feather patterns than the cryptically camouflaged female, above, and has a larger red eye-patch with wattle (breeding season), a head quiff and a longer, barred tail.