The distribution rule of species range is a hotspot in the study on biogeography and biodiversity. According to the Rapoport’s law, it is believed that the range of species distribution increases as the altitude rises, but its applicability has been controversial. The Himalayas is one of the global biodiversity hotspots, with the largest altitude differences and complete vertical climate and vegetation zones in the world, so it is an ideal place to verify the Rapoport’s law. In order to investigate whether the species distribution of breeding birds within 3 600 m altitude gradient of Gyirong Valley section in the Middle Himalayas is in accordance with the Rapoport’s law, four surveys on breeding birds in Gyirong Valley section of the Middle Himalayas were carried out in rainy seasons of 2012 and 2013 using the line transect method. A total of 36 line transects were set up at an altitude range from 1 800 m to 5 400 m, with three line transects every 300 m altitude gradient (Fig. 1). A total of 169 species of breeding birds were recorded in the survey, and the species range was significantly skewed to the right (the average was 1 642.29 ± 544.63 m, the median was 728.5 m, and the maximum was 3 300 m, Fig. 2). Then, Stevens method, middle point method, Cross-species method, Pagel method and quartic method were used respectively to process the data, and the equation of linear regression was used to verify whether its complying with the Rapoport law. The results showed that the effectiveness of the Rapoport’s law was related to the verification method. Stevens’s method, middle point and Cross-species method did not support the Rapoport’s law, while Pagel method (R2 = 0.533) and quartic method (R2 = 0.382) supported the Rapoport’s law (Fig. 3). The comprehensive results demonstrated that the altitude pattern of breeding birds in Gyirong valley section presented a weak support for the Rapoport’s law, showing less applicable in this section.