The Bar Headed Goose
Context: In an unfolding avian-flu crisis, a substantial number of these high-altitude birds, which descends on this wetland every winter and adds to its charm have perished along with other bird species.
Bar Headed Geese
- One of the highest-flying birds of the world, the Bar Headed Goose has been sighted flying above Mount Everest.
- They are high-altitude birds breeding in the high places, but during winter, they come down.
- They nest mainly on the Tibetan Plateau.
- The bar-headed goose migrates over the Himalayas to spend the winter in parts of South Asia (from Assam to as far south as Tamil Nadu.
Bar Headed Geese
- The bird seems to have established Pong Dam Lake, as the ‘capital’ of its winter kingdom, year after year, as sights of crowded flocks of Bar Headed Geese, squatting beak-to-tail, are not uncommon.
- The wetland is said to hold the record for hosting the largest congregation of Bar-headed Geese.
Range
- The Bar-Headed Goose has an extremely large range and can be found in Afghanistan, Bangladesh Bhutan, China, India; Mongolia; Myanmar; Nepal; Pakistan; Russia, Thailand and Vietnam.
- They have also been introduced to Canada and Spain.
Habitat
- These geese prefer high altitude mountain lakes.
Population
- Global: Their world population is very large with at least 10,000 mature individuals. Their global population appears to be declining but none of their sub-populations are severely fragmented.
Status
- IUCN: Least concern
CITES: Not listed
USFWS: Not listed
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