GADAG: A bar-headed goose with an ID caller in its neck has landed at the Magadi lake of Gadag district. The bird featuring the collar number X-52 was photographed by local birders on Wednesday.
The Magadi Lake has been listed among the Ramsar sites of Karnataka. The wetland attracts thousands of bar-headed geese which fly down here every winter in flocks.
The lush green farm fields and large water body makes Magadi Lake a perfect destination for bar-headed geese migration. These birds fly all the way from Mongolia, China and other Himalayan regions to spend winters in India. In South India, the Magadi tank records the highest congregation of bar-headed geese annually. Close to 5,000 birds arrive here every winter.
Bird photographers from Gadag noted that the same geese with the collar (X-52) was first documented in the Magadi talk during 2019. The geese are collected for research purposes in several countries. The institutes working in ornithology such as the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) regularly track the movements of birds that are ringed or collared.
The forest department of Gadag keeps a regular update on the collared geese by documenting their numbers through photos and videos. “In the last few years more than four collared geese with different numbers have been documented in Magadi lake. Similar records have been obtained from lakes in Mysore and Ramanagara in the past. As the congregation of geese in Magadi talk is large numbers, sometimes identifying the colored birds becomes difficult,” said a forest officer.
The local birding community has demanded urgent measures to safeguard the largest migration site of bar-headed geese. The bird lovers are demanding the forest department to take necessary steps to maintain privacy of winged guests.
“Due to disturbance and growth of water hyacinth many birds are shifting to Shettihalli lake. We are planning an awareness competition for the villagers and school children on the importance of the Ramsar site,” said a bird photographer from Gadag.