Manjunath Nayak:
For the 7th time, a Bar-Headed Goose returns to Magadikere Conservation Reserve, Gadag district, Karnataka, India. This bar-headed goose with a green collar tag number: X-52 landed at Magadikere in Gadag, completing one of the toughest avian migratory journeys. Flying non-stop over the Himalayas from Mongolia to India, this is the seventh time, it has come in the past 12 years.
Magadikere Conservation Reserve, known for hosting one of the largest congregations of bar-headed geese (Anser indicus) in India, has seen more than 4,000 of these birds arrive this season. Migrating from Mongolia, Tibet, and other parts of Central Asia, the bar-headed geese seek the milder winters of peninsular India to escape the extreme cold of their home breeding grounds.
X-52 is among the 31 tagged bar-headed geese recorded by researchers and Karnataka Forest Department (KFD) personnel at Magadikere Conservation Reserve over the past decade. Scientists are tagging birds in Mongolia and Tibet for scientific studies and understanding their unique behaviour.
Based on the colour code of the tag (green for Mongolia), citizen scientists from across the world upload data regarding these birds’ location. Scientists currently use ring and satellite tagging to track birds’ migratory paths, resting sites, behaviour and other patterns. Tagging is vital not just for species conservation but also for safeguarding their migratory routes and stopover sites.
In fact, this author and Sangamesh Kadagad in association with KFD have been recording the arrival of bar-headed geese at Magadikere for the past 12 years. Kadagad says X-52 has been visiting the Magadikere Conservation Reserve since 2013, while P-71 has visited five times. “We could identify these Bar-headed goose only because of the tags. They help us understand the birds’ life cycle, including breeding age, longevity, and more.”
However, bird experts criticize and say India and Karnataka in particular, has made little efforts to tag migratory birds and make studies on them.
(PHOTO CREDIT: IMAGES 1 & 2 BY SOMANAGOUDA PATIL, DY RFO, KFD, MUNDARGI AND IMAGE 3 BY SANGAMESH KADAGAD)