How will you Recognise a bar-headed goose?
Bar-Headed Goose Identification The neck is brownish-gray with a white vertical stripe down each side. The body is grayish above and brownish below, darkest near the legs, though some minor white barring may show both above and below. The lowest part of the abdomen and the undertail coverts are white.
Are bar-headed geese rare?
The Bar-headed Goose (Anser indicus) is a very rare vagrant to Britain. Originally from Asia, this bird has been rarely seen in Britain, though those which have been seen could have escaped.
What do bar-headed geese look like?
This species is gray and white with two horseshoe-shaped, brownish-black bars on the back of its white head. The body is gray overall, and the bill and legs are pink, orange, or yellow.
Where are bar-headed goose found?
In the colder months (October through March), bar-headed geese live in low-lying swamps in northern India and Burma. When the weather warms up they take to the skies on their annual migration to their summer breeding grounds in the high mountain lakes and wetlands of central Asia.
Why do bar-headed geese fly so high?
Yet at this altitude there’s only half to a third of the oxygen. Bar-headed Geese are adapted to fly in low oxygen conditions. They have larger lungs and breathe more efficiently than other birds. Their hemoglobin, the protein that carries oxygen in the blood, also binds oxygen more tightly than that of other birds.
Are bar-headed geese endangered?
Least Concern (Population decreasing)Bar-headed goose / Conservation status
How high do bar-headed geese fly?
The bar-headed goose is famous for reaching extreme altitudes during its twice-yearly migrations across the Himalayas. These geese have been tracked flying as high as 7,270 meters up, and mountaineers have anecdotally reported seeing them fly over summits around Mount Everest (that are over 8,000 meters tall).
Why we see bar-headed goose in winter?
In the autumn, the bar-headed goose migrates from its winter feeding grounds in the lowlands of India to its nesting grounds in Tibet. Like Olympic long-distance runners that train at high altitudes, the bar-headed goose develops mitochondria that provide oxygen to supply energy to its cells.
What is the highest flying bird?
Rüppell’s Griffon Vulture
1. Rüppell’s Griffon Vulture – 37,000 feet. The Ruppell’s griffon vulture (Gyps rueppellii) is the highest flying bird in the world. This vulture species is found in the Sahel region of central Africa.
What bird can fly over Mount Everest?
Study confirms that the bar-headed goose may be the world’s highest flyer. In 1953, a mountain climber reported seeing a bar-headed goose (Anser indicus) soar over the peak of Mount Everest.
Why can the bar-headed goose fly so high?
Bar-headed geese can reach high altitudes during their migration across the Himalayas and Tibetan plateau because they can continue supporting the metabolic costs of flight as the air becomes extremely hypoxic.
Why do bar-headed geese migrate to India?