The Himalayas, is a mountain range which separates the Great Indian Plains from the Tibetan Plateau. This range is home to nine of the ten highest peaks on the Earth, including the highest, Mount Everest. The abrupt rise of the Himalayan Mountains from less than 500 meters to more than 8,000 meters in a few hundred kilometers has resulted in a huge diversity of flora and fauna. Nearly 1000 birds have been recorded in the Himalayas of which 15 species are fully endemic.
The red-billed leiothrix (Leiothrix lutea) is native to the Indian subcontinent, it has also been introduced in various parts of the world, with small populations of escapees having existed in Japan since the 1980s. This species is a bird of the hill forests, found in every type of jungle though it prefers pine forests with bushes. Its food is usually gathered from foliage and dead wood and it usually searches for food in lower strata of vegetation.
IUCN Status: Least Concern (LC) Photo: Dibyendu Ash