Nongin Bird 

Nongin (Syrmaticus humiae), a beautiful bird that was declared as State Bird of Manipur in 1989. The bird is also named as Mrs. Hume's Pheasant in honour of Mrs A.O. Hume,the wife of Mr. Allan Octavian Hume. Mr. Hume was a greatest influential ornithologist in nineteen century, and he had scientifically recorded the bird during his expedition in Manipur in 1881.

In Manipuri the meaning of Nongin is one who follows the track of rain. 'Nong' means rain and 'In' means to follow.

The name of birth has legend  that a loving couple died due to thirst and hunger and their souls were changed into the pair of the bird. It was also believed that the bird knew the conditions and cycle of rain and cloud in the sky.

Royal kings of Manipur used to present the beautiful feathers of the bird as awards for war or hunting heroes. The bird is a big forest bird and its size is of the local chicken. They are mostly stay on the ground and do not fly very far. The male are colourful and female are of dull colour.

An interesting case story in the recent years was that there was a time when it was to consider that the State Bird was locally extinct. The State Zoological Garden could not keep even a single State Bird since the establishment of the Garden in 1976.

However due to the awareness and publicity to award a sum of Rs.50,000/- on one pair of live Nongin declared by the State Government in 2010, at least five to six Nongin were brought by the villagers of Razai Khullen and Shiroi Village of Ukhrul district.