Editing Cheer pheasant

{{short description|Species of bird}}
{{speciesbox
| name = Cheer pheasant
| image = Catreus wallichii -Kyoto Zoo-Japan-8a.jpg
| image_caption = At [[Kyoto Municipal Zoo|Kyoto Zoo]], [[Japan]]
| status = VU
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| status_ref = <ref name="iucn status 13 November 2021">{{cite iucn |author=BirdLife International |date=2017 |title=''Catreus wallichii'' |volume=2017 |page=e.T22679312A112455142 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-1.RLTS.T22679312A112455142.en |access-date=13 November 2021}}</ref>
| status2 = CITES_A1 
 | status2_system = CITES 
 | status2_ref = <ref>{{Cite web|title=Appendices {{!}} CITES|url=https://cites.org/eng/app/appendices.php|access-date=2022-01-14|website=cites.org}}</ref>
| genus = Catreus
| parent_authority = [[Jean Cabanis|Cabanis]], 1851
| display_parents = 2
| species = wallichii
| authority = ([[Thomas Hardwicke|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 [[Monotypic taxon|only member]] in the genus ''Catreus''. The scientific name commemorates [[Denmark|Danish]] botanist [[Nathaniel Wallich]].

==Description==
[[File:Cheer Pheasant (male).JPG|thumb|Cheer pheasant (male) at Pangot, Nainital, Uttarakhand, India]]
[[File:Cheer Pheasant pair at winter village of lata on the periphery of Nanda Devi National Park.jpg|alt=Cheer pheasant pair sighted near Lata village, Nanda Devi National Park|thumb|Pair of cheer pheasants near winter Lata village on the periphery of Nanda Devi National Park]]
These birds lack the color and brilliance of most pheasants, with buffy gray [[Feather|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 [[cliff]]s during summer with a clutch of 10 to 11 eggs.<ref name="baker">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]</ref>
In studies conducted in upper Beas Valley, cheer pheasant was found to be sensitive to human disturbance.<ref name="Jolli"/><ref>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. {{doi|10.2478/v10058-011-0035-0}}
</ref>

==Habitat and distribution==
The cheer pheasant is distributed in the highlands and [[scrubland]]s of the [[Himalaya]] region of [[India]], [[Nepal]] and [[Pakistan]]. They are found mainly in western Nepal, [[Uttarakhand]] ([[Kumaon division|Kumaon]] and [[Garhwal division|Garhwal]]), [[Himachal Pradesh]] ([[Shimla district|Shimla]], [[Kullu Valley|Kullu]] and [[Chamba district|Chamba]]), and [[Jammu and Kashmir (union territory)|Jammu and Kashmir]] in northwestern India, and [[Hazara division|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).<ref name="Lelliott 1981">Lelliott, A.D.(1981) Cheer Pheasants in west-central Nepal. World Pheasant Assoc. 6:89-95</ref><ref name="TRAGOPAN 19">{{Cite web |url=http://chinabird.org/news/TRAGOPAN%2019.pdf |title=PSG Project round-up |work=Newsletter of the WPA/BirdLife/Species Survival Commission |publisher=[[Pheasant Specialist Group]] |access-date=14 January 2011}}</ref><ref name="Birdlife Data Zone">{{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
}}</ref> In another survey in 2010, cheer pheasants were detected in 21 calling sites in [[Kullu district]] of [[Himachal Pradesh]].<ref name="Jolli">{{cite journal|last1=Jolli|first1=Virat|last2=Srivastav|first2=A|last3=Thakur|first3=S|year=2011|title=Patch occupancy for cheer pheasant Catreus wallichii in the Great Himalayan National Park Conservation Area|journal=International Journal of Galliformes Conservation|volume=2|pages=74&ndash;81|url=http://www.pheasant.org.uk/uploads/Pages_74-81_Joli_et_al_Patch_occupancy_for_Cheer_Pheasant.pdf|access-date=10 December 2012|archive-date=5 June 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140605051227/http://www.pheasant.org.uk/uploads/Pages_74-81_Joli_et_al_Patch_occupancy_for_Cheer_Pheasant.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> They are found mainly above 6000 feet altitude and up to 10000 feet in summer.<ref name="baker"/>

==Status and conservation==
Due to ongoing habitat loss, small population size, and hunting in some areas, the cheer pheasant is evaluated as [[Vulnerable species|vulnerable]] on the [[IUCN Red List]] of Threatened Species.<ref name="iucn status 13 November 2021" /> It is listed on Appendix I of [[CITES]].<ref name="cites_appendix">{{Cite web|url=http://www.cites.org/eng/app/appendices.shtml |title=Appendices I, II and III |work=cites.org |publisher=[[CITES]] |access-date=8 December 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081116124133/http://www.cites.org/eng/app/appendices.shtml |archive-date=16 November 2008 }}</ref> Attempts to reintroduce captive-bred cheer pheasants in [[Pakistan]] have been unsuccessful.<ref name="birdlife">{{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
}}</ref>

==Gallery==
<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]]
</gallery>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* ARKive - [https://web.archive.org/web/20060619193056/http://www.arkive.org/species/GES/birds/Catreus_wallichi/ images and movies of the Cheer Pheasant ''(Catreus wallichi)'']
* {{EBirdSpecies|chephe1|Cheer Pheasant}}

{{Phasianidae}}
{{Pangalliformes|Pha.|state=collapsed}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q385891}}

[[Category:Pheasants|cheer pheasant]]
[[Category:Phasianini|cheer pheasant]]
[[Category:Birds of North India]]
[[Category:Birds of Nepal]]
[[Category:Birds of Pakistan]]
[[Category:Endemic birds of the Himalayas]]
[[Category:Birds described in 1827|cheer pheasant]]