Bar-headed Goose(Anser indicus)
The bird is pale grey and is easily distinguished from any of the other grey geese of the genus by the black bars on the back of its head. It is also much paler than the other geese. In flight, its call is a typical goose honking. A mid-sized goose, it measures 71–76 cm in total length and weighs 1.87–3.2 kg. They are one of the worlds highest flying birds.
Habitat
Bar-headed geese breed in Central Asia and winter in South Asia, migrating south from Tibet, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, and Russia before crossing the Himalaya. They usually breed near mountain lakes; on wintering grounds, they prefer freshwater marshes, lakes, streams or river wetlands, as well as mountain grasslands, cultivated fields or flooded agricultural areas.
Diet
Bar-headed geese are herbivores (graminivores, granivores) and feed mainly on grasses that surround lakes where they nest. They also eat corn, barley, rice, wheat, and occasionally will take mollusks, insects, and crustaceans.
Breeding
Bar-headed geese are monogamous and form pairs for several years; however, sometimes males may exhibit polygynous behavior in which they mate with other females. Bar-headed geese breed between late April and July. They nest mainly on the Tibetan Plateau in big colonies and during this time females become very aggressive and defend their nests from lower rank females that try to lay their eggs in the nests of higher-ranking females. Females usually lay 3 to 8 eggs at a time in a ground nest and incubate them around 28-30 days. Upon hatching, goslings are precocial (fully-developed) and are ready to leave the nest 1 or 2 days after birth. They fledge at 55 to 60 days old but remain dependant on their parents another 10-20 days. Young Bar-headed geese usually reach maturity and are ready to breed for the first time when they are 3 years old.
Population
According to the IUCN Red List, they are classed as Least Concern(LC). The population is decreasing and has suffered a severe reduction in numbers owing to over-hunting, unsustainable levels of egg collecting and habitat destruction.
Threats
Main threats to Bar-headed geese include habitat loss, overhunting, egg collection and persecution from farmers as large flocks may damage grain crops. These birds are also vulnerable to avian influenza and suffer from the presence of power lines, particularly those positioned along key flyways or close to nesting sites.
Conservation
There are currently no conservation actions for this species, but we could help them by stopping people hunting them and poaching their eggs and stop farmers persecuting them because they think they are damaging their crops.