General species composition
Field surveys recorded 483 individual birds belonging to 15 species from
the families Alcedinidae, Motacillidae, Muscicapidae, Cinclidae,
Ibidorynchidae and Charadridae. This included two river chats, three
wagtails, two forktails, a thrush and a dipper which are all widespread
in the Western Himalaya (Fig. S3). The Plumbeous water redstart
(Rhyacornis fuliginosa ) was the most abundant bird recorded in
all the three river basins while Ibisbills (Ibidoryyncha
struthersii) were recorded from just two river reaches in the
Bhagirathi basin (Fig. S3). All 15 species were recorded from the
Bhagirathi basins, while eight species were recorded in each of Amrut
Ganga and Tirthan river basins. Sites with most species were from the
Bhagirathi basin at elevations between 1000 m and 1500 m (Fig. S4).