Avifauna Found in the State Reserved Forest Land of Trongsa District, Bhutan

On the high bird diversity in the non-protected regions of Trashiyangtse District in Bhutan

“…Overall, passerines dominated (64%, n= 174) the avian diversity as compared to non-passerines (36%, n= 99) which was also the trend observed in the adjoining BWS (BWS 2018) because of the similar forest types prevalent in both the cases. Dominance of Passeriformes was also reported elsewhere in Bhutan, particularly the SRF Land of Trongsa district (Gyeltshen et al 2020), along the Bindu River in Samtse district (Pasang 2018), Sakteng Wildlife Sanctuary (Wangyel et al 2018), and Phrumshingla National Park (Inskipp et al 2000). A similar pattern of Passerine dominance was reported from some areas in the eastern Himalayan region, such as in the Kanchenjunga Conservation Landscape, which is a transboundary complex shared by Bhutan, India, and Nepal (Kandel et al 2018).…”

“…Constituting minor proportions were summer visitors (11%; n= 31), and winter visitors and passage migrants (7%; n= 19 each). Similarly, Gyeltshen et al (2020) also reported that 36.7% (n= 121) of bird species recorded in the SRF region of Trongsa District were residents, followed by 34.5% (n= 114) altitudinal migrants, 15.2% (n= 50) summer visitors, 8.2% (n= 27) winter visitors, 4.8% (n= 16) passage migrants, and only two vagrants. Overall, in the entire Trashiyangtse District, a number of winter visitors and passage migratory species are observed annually across Kholongchu and Drangmechu river basins.…”

“…Muscicapidae, indeed, is the largest family of birds restricted to the Old World (Europe, Africa, and Asia) with 322 species (Daniels 2020). In contrast, Gyeltshen et al (2020) found Timaliidae to be the dominant family in the SRF Land of Trongsa District in central Bhutan. This variation could be attributed to the differences in habitat conditions occurring in different longitudes and elevation gradients.…”

“…The first exploration of avifauna in Bhutan was conducted in 1837 by a British team (Gyeltshen et al 2020). Later, several avifaunal expeditions and studies have been done in the country by Bhutanese nationals and foreign researchers, resulting in numerous online literature in the form of published articles, notes, and guidebooks.…”

“…Despite its small geographical size ~38,394km 2 (Thinley et al 2021), Bhutan is a hotspot for bird diversity in the Himalaya with 23 important bird areas (IBA) (Banerjee & Bandopadhyay 2016) and is also part of the eastern Himalaya endemic bird area (Stattersfield et al 1998;Bishop 1999). The latest record of confirmed bird species in the country stands at 748 species Gyeltshen et al 2020) of which 31 are globally threatened and 18 are part of the 37 endemic bird species in eastern Himalaya (DoFPS 2020). This makes Bhutan a stronghold for bird diversity (Kandel et al 2018).…”