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Bar-headed Goose

Bar-headed Goose

Anser indicus

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The Bar-headed Goose is a pale grey, medium-sized goose instantly recognised by two black bars on its white head. It breeds in colonies around high mountain lakes of Central Asia and migrates across the Himalayas to winter in the lowlands of South Asia. It is renowned for extreme-altitude flight. Feral populations derived from escapes exist in parts of Europe.

Did you know?

  • One of the world's highest-flying birds, it routinely crosses the Himalayas and has been recorded around 7,000 m.
  • A single amino-acid change in its haemoglobin increases oxygen uptake, helping it fly in thin air.

Voice

Call
Flight call

About the species

Identification

A pale grey goose with a white head and two black bars across the back of the head. The bill is yellow with a black tip and the legs are yellow-orange. The distinctive head pattern separates it from all other grey geese.

Family

Anatidae

Size

Very large (swan)

Colours

grey, white, black, orange

About the habitat

High-altitude lakes, marshes and grasslands of Central Asia and the Tibetan Plateau in summer; lowland lakes, wetlands and farmland in winter.

Diet

Mainly a grazer on grasses and other plants in summer; in winter it feeds on grain and crop residues such as barley, rice and wheat, as well as aquatic vegetation.

Behaviour

Highly migratory and gregarious; makes staged journeys between South Asia and the Tibetan Plateau, often flying at night or early in the morning through high passes. Breeds colonially near lakes in ground nests; some females lay in the nests of others. Grazes in open fields and roosts on nearby water. The call is a honking, goose-like note.

Sources

Photo: Tisha Mukherjee, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bar-headed Goose in Kaziranga National Park March 2025 by Tisha Mukherjee 02.jpg

Sound: Pascal Christe, XC723229, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://xeno-canto.org/723229

Sound: Pascal Christe, XC721732, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://xeno-canto.org/721732

Text: Wikipedia (English) + FinBIF species descriptions, CC BY-SA 4.0; FinBIF: CC BY 4.0 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bar-headed_goose

See also