Bar-headed Goose

This is the start of the British Goose weekend. I'll start with the Bar-headed Goose (Below) which we saw in St. James Park. The Audubon Society tabs the Bar-headed Goose as a "Super Bird" because it is known as the world's highest altitude migrant. Each spring they migrate over Mt. Everest from their winter feeding grounds in the lowlands of India over the Himalayan range on their way to their nesting grounds in Tibet. http://www.audubonmagazine.org/birds/birds0011.html

The "Super" Bar-headed Goose, St. James Park, London, UK; 4/8/10.

Because of its beauty and exotic qualities, the Bar-headed Goose is often kept in captivity and breeds readily in captivity. Sightings in Britain are frequent, and are considered to be of escapees - however, the species has bred on several occasions in recent years and around five pairs were recorded in 2002 (info obtained from http://www.worldlingo.com/ and the Rare Birds Breeding Panel). Experts feel that the species may be gradually becoming more established in the UK. It is a very sociable bird and doesn't seem to cause problems for native birds. However, worldwide the wild population is believed to be declining due to loss of habitat and over-hunting.