HUBBALLI: Bird watchers in Gadag and Davanagere are trying to reach out to their counterparts in Mongolia after ‘collared’ bar-headed geese have landed in the water bodies around these regions.
While at least three green colour collared birds have been recorded from the famous Magadi Tank near Gadag, a single bird with the collar has been sighted at Hadadi Lake in Davanagere. These geese annually migrate to different parts of India to escape harsh winter in the Himalayan region. In Karnataka, about 12 water bodies have reported goose migration.
These collared geese have unique numbers or codes through which the releasing date and locations can be traced. Also it’s an important exercise worldwide to observe bird migration patterns and as the geese are one among the long-distance migrators, the researchers often choose them for ringing or collaring.
According to bird watchers in Gadag, the green collar signifies that the bird was collared during in 2011 in Mongolia by animal expert and researcher Martin Gilbert. The previous two years, Gilbert had tied yellow and red colour bands to the geese. R B Thimmapur, a bird expert from Dharwad, says that bird watchers here were corresponding with their counterparts in Mongolia. “This year, over 5,000 Bar-headed geese have arrived at Magadi Tank.”
As the water body enjoys protection by the local forest unit, the numbers of migratory visitors have remained almost same. Also, some of the locals in Gadag point out that the birds roost in the nearby Shetty Halli Kere (lake) and that they return to Magadi Tank during the day time. “These interesting behaviours of migratory birds need to be studied and documented,” he says.
Basavraj Onkarappa, a bird watcher from Davanagere, says that at least one collared bird has been visiting the two lakes of Davangere Hadadi and Kundawad since 2013. “However, the sightings of these collared birds are not regular in Davanagere. We are trying to get in touch with the scientists of Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS). But the response is not very positive,” he rues.
The collared geese have been arriving in the northern region of Karnataka since 2009 and this is the first time that four birds have been recorded with the coloured band. During earlier sightings, the birders had recorded a maximum of two birds in a lake of Nanjangud near Mysuru. Bird expert M B Krishna feels that the BNHS, which is already taking up ringing for waders and other birds in India, must collar the bar-headed geese which arrive here from the Himalayan region.