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 yellow-bellied fantail (Chelidorhynx hypoxantha) is also known as the yellow-bellied fairy-fantail. It used to be placed in the family of the fantails (Rhipiduridae), but DNA analysis has shown it to be a close relative of the fairy flycatcher and it has, therefore, been transferred to the Stenostiridae (IOC World Bird List), in the revalidated monotypic genus Chelidorhynx. It is found in the Himalayas from Kashmir to Bhutan, NE India (Assam).
IUCN Status: Least Concern (LC) Photo: Soumyajit Nandi