Bar-headed Goose - Anser indicus

Description

Easily distinguished from other geese by its white crown with two black transverse bands

Identification difficulty
Habitat

Marsh, lake shore and tundra

When to see it

Any time of the year and usually in the company of "grey geese".

Life History

Breeds in colonies of thousands on lakes of high central Asia from the Tian-Shans to Ladakh and Kokonor. Winters in northern India, Assam and northern Burma.

UK Status

Often kept in captivity where it breeds readily. British records almost certainly relate to escapes but the species is gradually becoming more established in Britain and has bred on several occasions.

VC55 Status

The Bar-headed Goose, along with Black Swan is the most frequently occurring species of escaped wildfowl in VC55. Most records have been of single birds predominantly from Rutland Water, Eyebrook Reservoir and Stanford Reservoir.

Leicestershire & Rutland Map

MAP KEY:

Yellow squares = NBN records (all known data)
Coloured circles = NatureSpot records: 2020+ | 2015-2019 | pre-2015

UK Map

Species profile

Common names
Bar-headed Goose
Species group:
Birds
Kingdom:
Animalia
Order:
Anseriformes
Family:
Anatidae
Records on NatureSpot:
2
First record:
21/07/2003 (Tim Caldicott)
Last record:
15/11/2018 (Davis, Trevor)

Total records by month

% of records within its species group

10km squares with records

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