An Investigation on Diversity of Bird Species of Helan Mountains in Autumn

The composition of autumn birds in Helan mountain area was investigated by transects lines methods during September to October in 2012. The results indicated that 56 bird species, which belong to 5 orders and 15 families, were recorded during this survey. These bird species account for 4.25% of the total number of avifauna in China(1319 species)and 17.50% of the whole avian species(320 species) in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. The data suggested that 25 species are residents, 14 species are summer residents, 6 species are travelers, and 3 species are winter residents. Among them, 33 species distribute in the Palaeartic realm, accounting for 58.93% of the total bird species in this area and 23 species distribute widely, accounting for 41.07%. We found no species that belong to oriental realm in the survey. The species that inhabit the mountain coniferous forest(43 species) was most abundant, the species that inhabit the mountain woodland steppe(29 species) was second, and those inhabit the mountain grassland(16 species) and subalpine shrub land and meadow(16species) were least. One bird species is listed as a categoryⅠ species under the Wild Animal Protection Law by the Chinese government, and 8 species are listed as a categoryⅡ species.