Himalayan Snowcock

How to identify

Field marks

1. White throat bordered on both sides by chestnut moustachial stripes
2. Broad chestnut band through the eye and ear, forming a collar
3. Legs and feet and bare skin around the eye yellow
4. Primaries white with black tips in flight

Male, female and young

Sexes have the same plumage; female smaller and lacks the male's large tarsal spurs.

Voice

Loud three-part whistle with a rising pitch; also gives thin, rising flute-like notes.

Similar species

Tibetan Snowcock

Tibetan Snowcock is slightly smaller, with white trailing edges to the secondaries that stand out on the gray wings.

Where and when it's recorded

Busiest months: May · Most records: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, China

Himalayan Snowcock has been recorded at 16 of the 8,276 birding hotspots we track, in 5 countries and regions.

Records by month Northern Hemisphere

Where it's recorded most

1. Ile Alatau NP – Big Almaty LakeKazakhstan111 records
2. Ile-Alatau NP – Kosmos StationKazakhstan92 records
3. Ile-Alatau NP – Tien-Shan Astronomical ObservatoryKazakhstan70 records

Countries and regions with the most records

KazakhstanKyrgyzstanChinaUzbekistanTajikistan

eBird records via GBIF up to 2024-12-31. A record means someone listed it; more records partly mean more birders, not more birds.

About

The Himalayan snowcock (Tetraogallus himalayensis) is a snowcock in the pheasant family Phasianidae found across the Himalayan ranges and parts of the adjoining Pamir range of Asia. It is found on alpine pastures and on steep rocky cliffs where they will dive down the hill slopes to escape. It overlaps with the slightly smaller Tibetan snowcock in parts of its wide range.

Excerpt from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0 · authors · Read more on Wikipedia

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