Abstract
In the Indian Himalayan region, community-managed lands such as community-managed forests and agriculture lands play an important role in conserving native biodiversity. Our avifaunal surveys done between 2013 and 2016 recorded 205 species belonging to 52 families. Two species were first records from Pithoragarh district. Six species are classified as Threatened and five as Near Threatened in the IUCN Red List. Six are Schedule-I species under the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. In total, 63 migratory (local/altitudinal and long-range) and 81 Himalayan endemic species were observed. Overall, our observations reveal a niche providing both transient and perennial havens for resident and migrant avifauna in our study site’s landscape. Our findings suggest that despite human persistence in the landscape, diversity within avifaunal guilds is rich in the community-managed lands. We recommend further research to focus on understanding the factors governing the bird distribution and co-occurrence in the landscape. 
Highlights
The Himalaya is one of the most biodiverse places on Earth (Olson and Dinnerstein 1998; Myers et al 2000; Brooks et al 2006) and has nearly 10% of the world’s bird species and around 330 Important Bird Areas (Elsen et al 2016; Pandit et al 2014)
In the Indian Himalayan region, community-managed lands such as community-managed forests and agriculture lands play an important role in conserving native biodiversity
Survey of India 2019), with 14% of the forest managed by the local communities in collaboration with the Forest Department (Negi et al 2008)
Summary
The Himalaya is one of the most biodiverse places on Earth (Olson and Dinnerstein 1998; Myers et al 2000; Brooks et al 2006) and has nearly 10% of the world’s bird species and around 330 Important Bird Areas (Elsen et al 2016; Pandit et al 2014). The Indian part of the landscape is mostly within the Pithoragarh district of Uttarakhand state. Survey of India 2019), with 14% of the forest managed by the local communities in collaboration with the Forest Department (Negi et al 2008) These community-managed forests are locally known as “Van panchayats” (Negi et al 2012). These forests are important for the maintenance of biodiversity and meeting the biomass demand of local people (Negi et al 2012), but they are lesser known for their avifauna. The state hosts more than 50% of India’s bird species (Mohan and Sondhi 2015), but bird-related studies in KSL-India (Pithoragarh district)
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