Geese of India

Actually, no Geese belongs to India alone. Geese are migratory birds, and are found in different parts of the world depending upon the season. 

There are 4 species of Geese, that visits India during winter. I was lucky enough to see and photograph all the 4 species of Geese in one single trip with Darter (www.darter.in) during last december 2013, at Little Rann of Kutch (LRK) in Gujarat, including the rarest of the rare White fronted Geese.

The 4 types of Goose that visits India are:

• Bar-headed Goose
• Greylag Goose
• Lesser White fronted Goose
• Greater White fronted Goose

A Goose is a medium sized bird found in Europe, Asia and North America. They build their nests in north during the warmer summer months and migrate south in the winter to warmer climates. They are omnivorous and feed on insects, grubs, small fish and plankton in the water. Geese spend a great deal of time on the water and have special adaptations such as webbed feet which make their aquatic life easier.

Geese tend to have the same mating partners for their entire lives, and if not all of it then most of it. The bond between male and female geese partners is very strong and they will often spend most of their time together with both the male goose and the female goose building the nest and raising their young.

Geese have a number of natural predators like raptors, foxes, etc., although, due to the size and strength of a goose, predatory animals don't always have an easy time if they fancy goose for dinner. Humans are among one of the most common predators of geese, as geese are hunted all around the world for their meat and feathers.

The average lifespan of a goose is between 20 and 30 years.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Bar-headed Goose (Anser indicus):

Bar headed Geese

Bar headed Geese

The Bar-headed Geese are world's highest altitude migrants. They live and breed at high-altitude lakes in the mountainous regions of China, Mongolia, Afganistan, Kazakhastan, Kyrgyztan, Tajikistan and Russia (Central Asian); winters in Nepal, India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam. Within Indian limit these birds breeds in Ladhak.

To reach their wintering grounds, bar-haeded geese migrates from Russia to China and then cross Himalayas to enter into India. Some observer reported that they had seen these birds flying over the Mt. Everest (29,028 feet)! They don't understand how these birds survive in that hostile environment where mountaineers could suffer deziness, altitude sickness and even die due to oxyzen scareity.

Researchers found Bar-headed geese are capable to survive in low oxyzen conditions because of their hemoglobin. They could fly constantly for hours which keeps their body warm. They fly 50 miles an hour and cross 1000-mile migration route in just one day.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Greater & Lesser White Fronted Goose (Anser albifrons & Anser erythropus):

It was the last day in LRK, and the next day we are starting to GRK. The last day morning, we decided to spend the time near a lake. The day was just starting, and we could see hundreds of ducks and pelicans in the water, roosting. We were waiting for the sun to come out, and we get some light for the photography. While we were watching the ducks, we noticed a flock of Geese grazing near the corner of the place. They were looking like Greylag Goose, and we slowly walked towards them to photograph. We were lying on the ground, taking few shots, waiting, and then again moving forward. After a while, we realised, that they are not Greylag Geese, but the rarest of all Geese - Greater White fronted Geese. We were all excited, and we managed to get some decent shots. We returned back to our jeeps and noticed that all of them are not Greater White fronted, but there is one Lesser White fronted Goose also among the flock. It was a pleasant surprise for all of us, to get two different and rare species in the same place.

Greater and Lesser White fronted Geese - The one grazing with yellow ring around eyes is Lesser

Lesser and Greater White fronted Geese grazing together - the one with Yellow ring around eyes is Lesser White fronted Geese

The Greater White-fronted Goose (Anser albifrons) breeds across the tundra from Nunavut to Siberia, across Russia, and in Greenland. The Greater White-fronted Goose has one of the largest ranges of any geese species in the world.

The Lesser White-fronted Goose (Anser erythropus) is listed as Vulnerable because of a rapid population reduction in its key breeding population in Russia, and equivalent declines are predicted to continue.

This is the first photographic record for both these species from Gujarat. 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Greylag Goose (Anser anser):

Greylag Geese

Greylag Geese

The Greylag is the largest and bulkiest of the grey geese of the genus Anser.

Greylag geese are a migratory species and their breeding and wintering range extends across much of Europe and Asia. Greylags breed in Iceland, around the North Sea and Baltic coasts of Scandinavia, Finland and Northern Europe, and southwards through central Eastern Europe and western Russia as far south as the Black Sea. Winter populations range from the Iberian east coast, across southern Europe and Asia Minor, through the Himalayas and Thailand to the China Sea.