Survey on Bird Species and Analysis on Bird Diversity in the Central Kunlun Mountains in the Early Winter: Survey on Bird Species and Analysis on Bird Diversity in the Central Kunlun Mountains in the Early Winter

Abstract

The investigation on birds in the central Kunlun Mountains,including 11 valleys in 5 counties of Hotan Prefecture in south Xinjiang,such as Niya(Minfeng),Keriya(Yutian),Qira(Cele),Hotan(Hetian) and Guma(Pishan),and the upper reaches of Andir River,Keriya River,Aksay River,Buzang River,Qira River,Yurungkax River,Karakax River,Duwa River,Sangzhu River,Kang-Azi River,etc.,was carried out in early winter from October 14 to November 21,2008.The survey team climbed to the place over 5 300 m a.s.l.,the surveyed zone(35°55′~37°30′N,77°40′~84°00′E) was 600 km in length from east to west and 100 km in width from south to north,and the surveyed area was larger than 60 000 km2.The total length of the expedition was longer than 5 800 km.About 110 species of birds inhabiting in the study area were recorded in the season.They belong to 74 genera in 33 families and 14 orders,and 14 161 birds were counted(Tab.1).Analysis shows that the main type of Avifauna is the Palaearctic realm,and there are also some Cosmopolitan species,but few of them are from the type of the Oriental realm in the season.Some special species,such as Montifringilla sp.,Tetraogallus sp.and Pseudopodoces humilis,belong to the type of the Tibetan Plateau.A new record of bird from China is Ficedula hypoleuca(18).The analyzed results show that the diversity index is higher than 4.00 in Qira and 3.95 in Pishan(Tab.2).The index of similarity between Qira and Hotan is higher than 0.60(Tab.3).