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 (see Champion and Seth 1968 for definition), including coniferous, broadleaf and mixed broadleaf–coniferous, and some of them range into adjacent montane grassland and subalpine forest. There is a small geographical overlap in Nepal between this EBA and the Central Himalayas (EBA 129).

The EBA's restricted-range birds include two endemic genera, Ophrysia and Callacanthis. The breeding-habitat requirements and distributions of most species are relatively well known (Paludan 1959, Ali and Ripley 1987, Roberts 1991, 1992): six of them-Tragopan melanocephalus, Phylloscopus tytleri, Ficedula subrubra, Aegithalos niveogularis, Callacanthis burtoni and Pyrrhula aurantiaca-are found in temperate zone forest between eastern Afghanistan and western Nepal, although A. niveogularis is the only one known definitely to breed in Nepal (Inskipp and Inskipp 1991). F. subrubra has a particularly restricted distribution in Kashmir and the Pir Panjal range.

Phylloscopus subviridis and Aegithalos leucogenys appear particularly associated with relatively dry temperate forests in the western part of the EBA, in northern Pakistan and eastern Afghanistan. Aegithalos leucogenys and Sitta cashmirensis are the only species which range into the mountains of northern Baluchistan, where they occur in juniper Juniperus forest. Two species are associated with open habitats adjacent to forest: Catreus wallichi, which ranges from northern Pakistan to western Nepal, and Ophrysia superciliosa, which is only known from northern Uttar Pradesh in north-west India where it was last recorded about 1889.

The principal threat is loss, degradation and fragmentation of habitat. In the Himalayan region of Afghanistan, most forest has been destroyed for fuelwood and timber, and little now remains (IUCN 1993, Evans 1994). In northern Pakistan, there has been extensive forest loss in the past, and, although reafforestation schemes have increased overall forest cover considerably (IUCN 1993), many Himalayan forests are under constant threat from timber extraction (T. J. Roberts in litt. 1993). In north-west India, forest cover remains extensive and relatively stable in most states, although destruction of the understorey through overgrazing by livestock is a major problem (IUCN 1993), and habitat is being lost at important sites because of development projects such as roads and dams (V. Sharma in litt. 1993). In Nepal, the area of forest in the temperate zone seems to have been stable in recent years, but there has been rapid degradation by uncontrolled cutting for fuelwood and animal fodder, livestock grazing and burning (Inskipp 1989).

Four of the restricted-range species are classified as threatened through their particular vulnerability to habitat loss: Tragopan melanocephalus and Catreus wallichi have specialized habitat requirements and are both historically recorded from isolated pockets of suitable habitat (V. Sharma in litt. 1993), and their populations are now much reduced and fragmented; Ophrysia superciliosa and Ficedula subrubra have particularly restricted distributions in areas where extensive habitat loss has taken place, and O. superciliosa may already be extinct (King 1978-1979); C. wallichi is additionally subject to excessive hunting. Long-billed Bush-warbler Bradypterus major is a more widespread threatened species (classified as Vulnerable) which occurs in this EBA, where it is found at 2,400-3,600 m in low scrub and rank grass and bracken on open slopes, often near forest edge.

There are about 50 protected areas in the Western Himalayas which contain suitable habitats for the restricted-range species (IUCN 1993). These are spread through most parts of the EBA, although there are none in Afghanistan and few in Pakistan, and many of them are relatively small as well as being isolated. They are known to support numbers of all the restricted-range species except Ophrysia superciliosa, but only a few are likely to be large enough to hold viable populations of Tragopan melanocephalus or Catreus wallichi. The largest population now known of Tragopan melanocephalus is in the Palas valley in northern Pakistan, which also supports many other restricted-range bird species, and populations of many rare and endemic plants (Royal Botanic Gardens Kew 1995); the BirdLife Himalayan Jungle Project is working with the local communities there to conserve the remaining areas of pristine forest (Duke 1994). Dachigam National Park and Overa-Aru Sanctuary in Jammu and Kashmir are probably important for the conservation of Ficedula subrubra.

Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Endemic Bird Area factsheet: Western Himalayas. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/eba/factsheet/124 on 22/11/2024.