TIRUNELVELI: Rare Bar-headed Goose, which is one of the iconic winter migratory bird species to flock to Koonthankulam Birds Sanctuary, arrived at the district on Wednesday, the Agasthyamalai Community Conservation Centre said in a statement. Bird watchers sighted the species during the Thamirabarani Waterbird Count.
According to the statement, Bar-headed Goose can be identified by their signature white and grey plumage and distinct black bars on the head coupled with an orange-yellow beak and legs. During the flight, however, the plumage appears to be fully grey. They feed on grasses, aquatic plants and occasionally on insects too. Native to East and South Asia, they are known for their migration spanning distances of over 1,600 km in a day. They are known for reaching extreme altitudes of 29,500 feet during their twice-yearly migrations across the Himalayas.
On January 28, M Mathivanan, the Senior Research Associate of the Centre and Balachandar, a videographer from Chennai, sighted a green colour-banded Bar-headed Goose (adult and male) at Kadankulam tank at the sanctuary. Balachandar clicked the photo of the bird.
"We know that the green colour band is being used by Mongolian ornithologists. So we wrote an email to Tseveenmyadag N, a senior ornithologist at the Wildlife Science and Conservation Centre of Mongolia. He replied that this green colour band (F60 bird) was captured and marked in Mongolia on 7 July 2014. This bird was already registered twice in India," the statement read.