Multi‐Omics Reveals Divergent Gut Microbiome–Metabolome Associations Between High‐Altitude Snowcock and Low‐Altitude Pheasant

The gut microecological differences associated with high-altitude habitats remain poorly understood. The Snowcock (Tetraogallus tibetanus), a high-altitude bird endemic to the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau, and the low-altitude Pheasant (Phasianus colchicus) differ strikingly in habitat elevation and diet, providing an ideal comparative model. Fecal samples from six Snowcocks and six Pheasants were analyzed using 16S rRNA gene sequencing and UPLC-MS/MS untargeted metabolomics. Multi-omics integration was performed via Procrustes analysis, correlation networks, and random forest classification. Snowcocks displayed significantly lower alpha diversity and distinct beta diversity clustering compared with Pheasants. The Snowcock microbiota was dominated by Actinobacteriota and enriched in cold-tolerant genera such as Psychrobacillus. In contrast, the Pheasant microbiota showed higher diversity and was dominated by Firmicutes and Bacteroidota. Metabolomics revealed that differential metabolites enriched in Pheasants were predominantly mapped to amino acid metabolism and terpenoid biosynthesis pathways, while those enriched in Snowcocks were linked to glycerophospholipid and sphingolipid metabolism. Multi-omics integration demonstrated a significantly correlated microbiome-metabolome association, and the random forest model discriminated the two species in this dataset. The Snowcock microbiota was simplified and enriched with psychrophilic genera, and its fecal metabolome showed specific glycerophospholipid signatures. These features may reflect microecological divergence associated with the harsh plateau environment. Our findings provide multi-omics insights into high-altitude divergence in wild birds.