Profile
In flight
Ghosts of the Past
Himalayan Quail
Ophrysia superciliosa
- celestial
- 90 km/h
- Critically Endangered (Possibly Extinct)
Known from a handful of skins shot above Mussoorie and Nainital before 1880. Every search of those slopes since has come back empty.
- Population
- known from only about a dozen specimens; not seen since 1876
- Habitat
- steep tall-grass and brushwood slopes of the western Himalayan foothills, roughly 1,500–2,100 m elevation
- Diet
- grass seeds, tender shoots, small insects
- Size
- 0.25 m
- Wingspan
- 0.32 m
