A pair of bar-headed geese with one of them having the collar tag X-52 at Magadi Lake.
Photo Sangamesh Kadagad.
Last Sunday, a bar-headed goose with a collar tag X-52 landed at Magadi Lake in Gadag, completing one of the toughest avian migratory journeys — flying non-stop over the Himalayas — for the seventh time in the past 12 years.
Magadi Lake, known for hosting one of the largest congregations of bar-headed geese (Anser indicus) in India, has seen more than 4,000 of these birds arrive this season. Migrating from Mongolia, China (mainly Tibet) and other parts of Central Asia, these geese seek the milder winters of peninsular India to escape the extreme cold of their breeding grounds.
X-52 is among the 31 tagged bar-headed geese recorded by researchers and forest personnel at Magadi Lake over the past decade. Scientists are tagging birds in Mongolia and China for scientific study and understanding their behaviour. Based on the colour code of the tag, citizen scientists from across the world upload data regarding these birds' location.
Scientists currently use ring and satellite tagging to track birds’ migratory paths, resting sites, behaviour and other patterns. Tagging is vital not just for species conservation but also for safeguarding migratory routes and stopover sites.
Ashwin Viswanathan, a regional reviewer of eBird, an online database of bird observations, says through citizen scientists, one can record only the breeding and wintering sites. "Tags allow researchers to follow the exact route, altitude, feeding patterns, population trends and threats faced during migration," he explains.
He says such data can aid in conserving the birds’ migratory corridors, which rely on cross-country coordination.
Manjunath S Nayak, a Gadag-based biodiversity researcher who has been recording the arrival of bar-headed geese at Magadi Lake for the past 12 years, says X-52 has been visiting the lake since 2013, while P-71 has visited five times. "We could identify them only because of the tags. They help us understand the birds' life cycle, including breeding age, longevity, and more," he says.
However, experts say India, Karnataka in particular, has made little effort to tag migratory birds for scientific study.
Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) P C Ray says the Karnataka forest department is allowing researchers to study birds. However, if the bird is protected under schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, then such applications need to be approved by the Union government. There is a delay in getting approval, he says.