ALTITUDINAL AND REGIONAL DISTRIBUTION OF
HIMALAYAN ENDEMIC BIRDS IN HIMALAYAS
Introduction:
Birds have been widely considered as an important tool in biodiversity conservation
planning and monitoring (Chettri et al. 2001) and for identifying conservation actions.
Birds and their diversity provide strong bio-indication signals (Bhatt and Joshi 2011), and
stand as surrogates for the health of ecosystem and status of biodiversity overall
(Chettri 2010).
Endemism is the ecological state of a species being unique to a defined geographic
location, such as an island, nation, country or other defined zone, or habitat type;
organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found
elsewhere. An alternative term for a species that is endemic is precinctive, which applies
to species (and sub specific categories) that are restricted to a defined geographical area.
Physical, climatic, and biological factors can contribute to endemism. There are two
subcategories of endemism: paleoendemism and neoendemism. Paleoendemism refers to
species that were formerly widespread but are now restricted to a smaller area.
Neoendemism refers to species that have recently arisen, such as through divergence and
reproductive isolation or through hybridization and polyploidy in plants.
A restricted-range bird species is a term coined by BirdLife International in conjunction
with the identification of Endemic Bird Areas. It is defined as a landbird (i.e. not
a seabird) species which is estimated to have had a breeding range of not more than
50,000 km2. It includes birds which have become extinct which qualify on the range
criterion. It does not include birds which, although they meet the range criterion today,
were historically (since 1800) more widespread.
The Himalaya holds diverse ecosystems both natural and human-made. Various forest
types to high altitudinal wetlands, snow covered landscapes to river ecosystems in the
valleys of lower Himalayas. This much diverse habitat has supported and provided a
chance to the birds of Himalayas to adapt and evolve to their current niche over
thousands of past years (Svardso, 1949), and these process of evolution has led the
species to speciate. The Himalayas have a distinctly different climate (and hence
vegetation and avifauna) Nearly 980 birds have been recorded in the hotspot. Avian
flagships include the Endangered white-winged duck (Asarcornis scutulata), Critically
Endangered white-bellied heron (Ardea insignis) and Critically Endangered Bengal
florican (Houbaropsis bengalensis).
1
The Himalayan species includes approximately 450 breeding species, and 43 species are
endemic to the Himalayas (Bird Life International, 2019) including 11 endemic species in
western Himalaya, 19 endemic and 22 range restricted species in eastern Himalaya
(Stattersfield et al. 1998; Jathar and Rahmani 2006).
The eastern Himalayas have a distinctly different climate (and hence vegetation and
avifauna) to the rest of the range, as they lie further to the south and have warmer mean
temperatures and fewer days with frost, and generally have a much higher rainfall. They
extend from the Arun-Koshi valley in eastern Nepal, through Bhutan, north-east India,
south-east Tibet and northern Myanmar to north-west Yunnan in China, and are here
taken to include the mountains which extend from Nagaland and Manipur in India south
to the Chin Hills in Myanmar and the Chittagong Hills in Bangladesh. The Eastern
Himalayan Mountain range is identified as an endemic bird area (Birdlife International
2001), which supports 22 restricted-range bird species of which 19 are endemic to the
Eastern Himalayas (Stattersfield et al. 1998; IUCN 2009).
The Western Himalayas EBA extends along the mountain chain from western Nepal
(west of the Kali Gandaki valley) through Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and
Kashmir in north-west India and northern Pakistan, and then south-west along the
mountains in the border region between Pakistan and Afghanistan. The restricted-range
birds breed in west Himalayan temperate forest, including coniferous, broadleaf and
mixed broadleaf–coniferous, and some of them range into adjacent montane grassland
and subalpine forest.
1.2 Objective
 To know about altitudinal and regional distribution of Birds of Himalayas
2. Materials and Methods
 Secondary data was taken from herbarium specimens, books, articles and
websites.
2
3. Result and Discussion:
3.1 Avian composition
A total of 43 species of birds belonging to 17 families are endemic in Himalayas out of
which most endemic species belong to family Leiothrichidae as shown in the pie chart
below :
Families of endemic birds
1 1
2
1
4
1
2
1
2
4
1
1
8
2
2
7
3
Fig 1: Pie chart of endemic birds belonging to different Families
3.2 Distribution of endemic birds along altitudinal gradient
3
Aegithalidae
Apodidae
Certhiidae
Corvidae
Fringillidae
Leiothrichidae
Muscicapidae
Paridae
Phasianidae
Phylloscopidae
Pnoepygidae
Scotocercidae
Sittidae
Sylviidae
Timaliidae
Trogonidae
Zosteropidae
The highest no of endemism is in the altitudinal range of 2000-3000 m i.e. 39 species are
found in this range and the least no of endemic birds species are found in 4000-5000m
i.e. only 4 species of endemic birds are found above 4000m.
No of species in different altitudinal
gradient
45
39
40
33
35
30
23
25
20
15
11
No of species
10
4
5
0
Fig 2: Bar graph of distribution of endemic birds along altitudinal gradient
3.3. Distribution of endemic birds in the different regions of the Himalayas
Along the Himalaya the highest endemism in birds was found in the eastern Himalayas
which is 23 and least in central Himalayas which is 5 and 2 species are only found in the
whole Himalaya.
4
DIstribution of Himalayan endemic birds
25
23
20
15
13
No. of Species
10
5
5
2
0
CH
EH
WH
Whole
himalaya
Fig3: Bar graph of the distribution of Himalayan endemic birds in different regions
3.4 Distribution of endemic birds in different countries of the Himalayas
Highest no of species are found in India which is 41 followed by Nepal that is 28 and
least no of endemic species are found in Bangladesh that is 2 species.
No. of birdsspecies in different
countries of Himalayas
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
41
28
13
21
17
18
17
no of bird species
2
Fig 4 Bargraph of no. of Himalayan endemic birds in different countries of the himalayas
5
4. Conclusion:
The Himalaya holds diverse ecosystems where 980 species of birds have been recorded
in the hotspot out of which 43 are endemic to the Himalayas. The results showed that
among the birds of 450 breeding species, and 43 species are endemic to the Himalayas,
23 are endemic to the Eastern Himalayas, 13 endemic species in Western Himalaya, 5
species are endemic to Central Himalayas and 2 species are found in the whole
Himalayas which are spot-winged tit and Himalayan monal. The most of the endemic
birds belong to family Leiothrichidae that is 8 species. The highest no of endemism is in
the altitudinal range of 2000-3000 m i.e. 39 species are found in this range and the least
no of endemic birds species are found in 4000-5000m i.e. only 4 species of endemic birds
are found above 4000m. The result shows that it is humped shaped pattern which means
that the no of endemic species is increasing in the beginning and when reached the
altitude of 2000-3000 it were maximum and the stars to decline. The highest no endemic
birds of the Himalayas are found in India after that Nepal and least is found in
Bangladesh.
6
Refrences:
Bhatt D, Joshi K.K. (2011) Bird assemblages in natural and urbanized habitats along
elevational gradient in Nainital district (Western Himalaya) of Uttarakhand state, India.
Curr Zool.;57:318–29.
BirdLife International (2019) Endemic Bird Areas factsheet: Western Himalayas.
Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 04/11/2019.
BirdLifeInternational (2001). Threatened birds of Asia: the BirdLife International Red
data book. BirdLife International,Cambridge, U.K., 3,038pp.
Chandra, K., Gupta, D., Gopi, K.C., Tripathy, B. and Kumar, V.,( 2018). Faunal
Diversity of Indian Himalaya: 1-872. Chap 51 ISBN 978-81-8171-478-7
Chantler, P. & Kirwan, G.M. (2019). Dark-rumped Swift (Apus acuticauda). In: del
Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., Sargatal, J., Christie, D.A. & de Juana, E. (eds.). Handbook of the
Birds
of
the
World
Alive.
Lynx
Editions,
Barcelona.
(retrieved
from https://www.hbw.com/node/55336 on 6 November 2019).
Chettri N., Sharma E., Deb D.C. (2001)Bird community structure along a trekking
corridor of Sikkim Himalaya: a conservation perspective. Biol Conserv;102:1–16.
Chettri N,.(2010)Cross-taxon congruence in a trekking corridor of Sikkim Himalaya:
surrogate analysis for conservation planning. J Nat Conserv18:75–88.
Clements, F. A. (1992). Recent bird records from Bhutan. Forktail, 7: 57-74.
7
Inskipp, C.and Inskipp, T.P. (1991). Birds of Nepal. Second edition. London: Christopher
Helm.
IUCN (2009). IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. <http://www.iucnredlist.org.>. Online version 2009.1 dated 14 June 2009.
Jathar, G.A. & A.R. Rahmani (2006). Endemic birds of India. Buceros11: 5-53.
Stattersfield, A.J., Crosby M.J., Long A.J. & Wege D.C. (1998). Endemic Bird Areas of
the World: Priorities for Biodiversity Conservation. BirdLifeConservation Series No.
7. BirdLife International, Cambridge, U.K.
webpages
https://www.orientalbirdclub.org/eastern-himalayas accessed on 2019/11/10
http://datazone.birdlife.org/eba/factsheet/124
Annex
Table1: List of Himalayan endemic birds
SN
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
Name of the
species
Ophrysia
superciliosa
Tragopan
melanocephalus
Catreus
wallichi
Aegithalos
leucogenys
Aegithalos
niveogularis
Phylloscopus
subviridis
Sitta
cashmirensis
Ficedula
subrubra
Callacanthis
burtoni
Pyrrhula
aurantiaca
Pnoepyga
immaculata
English name
Family
Himalayan
quail
Western
tragopan
Cheer
pheasant
Whitecheeked tit
Whitethroated tit
Brooks's leafwarbler
Kashmir
nuthatch
Kashmir
flycatcher
Spectacled
finch
Orange
bullfinch
Nepal
cupwing
Phasianidae
Distribu
tion
WH
Phasianidae
WH
Phasianidae
WH
Aegithalidae
WH
Aegithalidae
WH
Phylloscopidae
WH
Sittidae
WH
Muscicapidae
WH
Fringillidae
WH
Fringillidae
WH
Pnoepygidae
CH
Turdoides
nipalensis
Spiny babbler
Leiothrichidae
CH
8
Altitude
Country
1,650
to
2,400 m.
1,750
to
3,600 m
1500
to
2500m
1500
to
3660m
1800 - 3965
m
2100 - 2700
m
1,800 -3,350
m
1800 - 2700
m
2270 - 3330
m
2700 - 3900
m
1730 - 3100
m
India, Nepal
915-2135m
Nepal
India, Pakistan
Pakistan, India, and Nepal.
India, Pakistan, Afghanistan
India; Nepal; Pakistan
India, Pakistan, Afghanistan
Afghanistan; India; Nepal;
Pakistan
Bhutan;
India;
Nepal;
Pakistan
Afghanistan; India; Nepal;
Pakistan
India; Pakistan
India ; Nepal
13
Actinodura
nipalensis
14
Arborophila
mandellii
15
Tragopan
blythii
Lophophorus
sclateri
Apus
acuticauda
Harpactes
1
wardi
Phylloscopus
cantator
Tickellia
hodgsoni
16
17
18
19
20
21
Spelaeornis
caudatus
22
Spelaeornis
badeigularis
Spelaeornis
longicaudatus
23
24
Stachyris oglei
25
27
Trochalopteron
virgatum
Trochalopteron
austeni
Sibia nipalensis
28
Sibia waldeni
29
Yuhina bakeri
30
Fulvetta
ludlowi
Heterophasia
gracilis
Heterophasia
pulchella
Sitta victoriae
26
31
32
33
Hoarythroated
barwing
Chestnutbreasted
partridge
Blyth's
tragopan
Sclater's
monal
Dark-rumped
swift
Ward'
s trogon
Yellow-vented
warbler
Broad-billed
warbler
Leiothrichidae
CH
1400-3500m
Phasianidae
EH
350 - 2500 India; Bhutan; China
m
Phasianidae
EH
Phasianidae
EH
Apodidae
EH
Trogonidae
EH
Phylloscopidae
EH
Scotocercidae
EH
1800 - 3300
m
3000 - 4200
m
200 - 2470
m
1,500–
3,200 m
300 - 2000
m
1050 - 2850
m
Rufousthroated wrenbabbler
Rusty-throated
wren-babbler
Tawnybreasted wrenbabbler
Snowythroated
babbler
Striped
laughingthrush
Brown-capped
laughingthrush
Hoarythroated
barwing
Streakthroated
barwing
White-naped
yuhina
Ludlow's
fulvetta
Grey sibia
Timaliidae
EH
1500 - 2500 Bhutan; India; Nepal
m
Timaliidae
EH
Timaliidae
EH
1800 - 2400 India
m
1000 - 2000 India
m
Timaliidae
EH
450- 1800m
India; Myanmar
Leiothrichidae
EH
900-2400m
India; Myanmar
Leiothrichidae
EH
1800-3000m
India; Myanmar
Leiothrichidae
EH
1400-3500m
Bhutan; China; India; Nepal
Leiothrichidae
EH
1700-3300m
China; India; Myanmar
Zosteropidae
EH
Sylviidae
EH
Leiotrichidae
EH
Beautiful sibia
Leiotrichidae
EH
White-browed
nuthatch
Sittidae
EH
300 - 2200 Bangladesh; Bhutan; China;
m
India; Myanmar; Nepal
2450-4000m Bhutan;
China;
India;
Myanmar; Nepal
900 - 2800 China; India; Myanmar
m
1650 - 3200 China; India; Myanmar
m
2300 - 3000 Myanmar
m
9
Bhutan, China, India, Nepal
Bhutan;
China;
India;
Myanmar
China; India; Myanmar
Bhutan, India, Nepal
Bhutan;
China;
India;
Myanmar;
Bangladesh Bhutan; China;
India; Myanmar; Nepal;
Bhutan;
China;
India;
Myanmar; Nepal
34
Brachypteryx
hyperythra
Rusty-bellied
shortwing
Muscicapidae
EH
150 - 3000 China; India; Myanmar
m
35
Lophophorus
impejanus
Himalayan
monal
Phasianidae
Himalay
as
36
Garrulus
lanceolatus
Nucifraga
multipunctata
Sitta leucopsis
Black-headed
jay
Larger-spotted
nutcracker
Whitecheeked
nuthatch
Certhia
Rusty-flanked
nipalensis
treecreeper
Periparus melanol Spot-winged
ophus
tit
Corvidae
WH
Corvidae
WH
Sittidae
WH
2100 - 4500 Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nepal,
m
India, Bhutan, China and
Myanmar
1500 - 3000 Afghanistan; India; Nepal;
m
Pakistan
850-3000m
Afghanistan; China; India;
Nepal; Pakistan
2100 - 3660 Afghanistan; India; Nepal;
m
Pakistan
Certhiidae
EH
Paridae
Himalay
as
Machlolophus
xanthogenys
Sitta
himalayensis
Sylviparus
modestus
Black-lored tit
Paridae
WH
White-tailed
nuthatch
Yellowbrowed tit
Sittidae
EH
Paridae
EH
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
10
2000 - 3660 Bhutan;
China;
India;
m
Myanmar; Nepal
1200-4570m Afghanistan; Bhutan; China;
India; Myanmar; Nepal
600 - 2400 China; India; Nepal; Pakistan
m
1000-3000m Bhutan;
China;
India;
Myanmar; Nepal;
1450-2600m Bhutan;
China;
India;
Myanmar; Nepal; Thailand;
11