Bangalore: A bar-head goose with a green collar around its neck was among a flock sighted in Hadadi Lake in Davanagere on ThÂursday by a group of bird watchers. The green collar signifies that the bird has flown all the way from Mongolia, which uses green collars to track its birds.
Bar-headed geese fly from Tibet and Mongolia every winter to warmer weather further south. They cross the mighty Himalayas, making a stopover at Leh and Ladak before landing on water bodies across India, and as far south as Tamil Nadu.
In Karnataka, more than 12 water bodies report the arrival of the geese every winter, but this is the first time a collared goose has been sighted in the northern parts of the State. Four years ago, two geese with yellow and green collars were sighted on a lake in Mysore. Tibet uses yellow coloured collars.
Harish R. Bhat, bird expert and researcher from the Indian Institute of Science, said that bar-headed geese are often collared or ringed in their tarsus with the location name, country and contact details.
“Collaring and ringing birds is the best way to track migrating birds. We receive migratory birds in Bangalore and surroundings from USA, AfÂghanistan and Eurasian countries and many countries ring the birds in order to receive feedback from the birding community in other parts of the globe,” he said.
Basavaraj Omkarappa, bird watcher from Davanagere has photographed the collared goose. “When I photographed the flock of bar-headed geese, I did not realise about the collar. On zooming the picture, we saw the collar on the goose. The birders in Mongolia have written some numbers on the collar but there is no information about whom to contact. We are getting in touch with bird experts in New Delhi and Bangalore to communicate with the bird watching community in Mongolia,” Basavaraj said.
In India, the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) has ringed cranes and other small birds. Since there are no migratory birds from India flying to other countries, collaring is not done.
