Richness in bird species of the Eastern Himalayas in early spring

Abstract

Bird species diversity of the altitudinal belts of the Eastern Himalayas was analyzed in the early spring of 2005 and 2014. Species richness is revealed to be decreasing from the belts of subtropical mixed and coniferous forests to the alpine belt. Specific species that are not beyond the limits of a corresponding belt are immanent to three of four investigated altitudinal belts. The avifaunas of two adjacent belts also have comparatively many common species. One hundred and thirty-three bird species met in both years belong to six faunal complexes, among which most species are Himalayan endemics and subendemics, as well as Palearctic species. The abundance of background species has been determined for each altitudinal belt.