bar-headed goose

[Joe stockwell]

probably an escape but a nice find

[admin]

Hi Joe, we moved your Bar-headed Goose photo to the scarce gallery from the stop press. Currently, the assumption is this species in Europe is always an escape and doesn't yet have a self-sustaining feral population to make it on to Category C of the British list (eg Egyptian Goose)

If this is your local patch, then it's a new arrival so must have come from somewhere...but most likely not far.
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hash (http://trichomes.org/hashish/full-melt-hash)

[PeterD]

Well spotted Joe, escapee or not, its a lovely bird to see.

PeterD

[Fozzie]

Monday & Tuesday of last week I noticed an unusual Goose mixing with the various Canada Geese, Moorhens, Mallards and Swans that inhabit the local stretch of the New River in North London. The bird in question was similar in size and shape to a Canada goose, but was mainly a greyish, tan to pink colour overall. The outstanding features were a vertical white stripe on the majority of both sides of it's neck, a bright yellow beak with a small tip of black, and two horizontal (part) bands round the top of it's neck. Unable to identify it from books at the local library, I resorted to the internet, came across this web-site, and indentified it as a bar-headed goose. Unfortunately, the photograph that was taken on a mobile phone was inadvertantly deleted, and when I returned each day, including today(Sunday) with my camera, was no sign of the bird. If this is a bar-headed goose, and as such, an Asian breeding bird, I cannot believe that it had been blown so far off course in migration, so can only assume it to be an escapee.

[Josh Jones]

Monday & Tuesday of last week I noticed an unusual Goose mixing with the various Canada Geese, Moorhens, Mallards and Swans that inhabit the local stretch of the New River in North London. The bird in question was similar in size and shape to a Canada goose, but was mainly a greyish, tan to pink colour overall. The outstanding features were a vertical white stripe on the majority of both sides of it's neck, a bright yellow beak with a small tip of black, and two horizontal (part) bands round the top of it's neck. Unable to identify it from books at the local library, I resorted to the internet, came across this web-site, and indentified it as a bar-headed goose. Unfortunately, the photograph that was taken on a mobile phone was inadvertantly deleted, and when I returned each day, including today(Sunday) with my camera, was no sign of the bird. If this is a bar-headed goose, and as such, an Asian breeding bird, I cannot believe that it had been blown so far off course in migration, so can only assume it to be an escapee.

Bar-headed Goose making it to western Europe as a vagrant is unheard of.

There is a Cat C (i.e. self-sustaining) population in the Netherlands.

[PeterD]

Bar-headed Goose making it to western Europe as a vagrant is unheard of.

There is a Cat C (i.e. self-sustaining) population in the Netherlands.

Thats interesting Josh. At what point does a bird get accepted as having increased its normal geographical range and become native, I wonder?

PeterD

[Joe stockwell]

there are various feral populations of geese and ducks in the united kingdom, a few of which hold bar-headed geese and there are sparadic sightings of these birds, mainly hybrids which do escape from time to time, a lot of the sightings along the south have been the same bird, although mine was true bar-headded im still trying to find where it came from

[Josh Jones]

Thats interesting Josh. At what point does a bird get accepted as having increased its normal geographical range and become native, I wonder?


There are various takes on this. Officially, naturalised species are recognised when the BOU deem them acceptable. Basically, the birds are breeding and increasing in number without further introductions or assistance from man. I think the UK400 club has a specific number at which the species becomes acceptable, can't remember what it is exactly though.


there are various feral populations of geese and ducks in the united kingdom, a few of which hold bar-headed geese and there are sparadic sightings of these birds, mainly hybrids which do escape from time to time, a lot of the sightings along the south have been the same bird, although mine was true bar-headded im still trying to find where it came from

Not quite true Joe. Feral populations do not include more than one species in them. Examples of 'feral' or naturalised species include Egyptian Geese, Ring-necked Parakeets etc. Few of the Bar-headed Geese in Britain are feral - they are escapees - if they have bred over here naturally, this is when they become 'feral'. Nevertheless, Bar-heads are not acceptable in listing terms over here yet. These escapees tend to breed, as you say, with other species (especially Greylags), and so there are plenty of nasty hybrids about. I haven't seen a Bar-headed Goose locally to me for some time now (I suspect the original escapes have now died out), but their legacy lives on with many hybrids still around, of various generations down the line.

You will probably have some trouble putting a finger on just where your bird came from unless it was ringed. All you can be pretty sure about is that it will be an escapee (certainly not a wild bird anyway).

Out of interest, anyone know if the Dutch birds are particularly nomadic? It would be interesting to see how far they move about and whether vagrancy is possible from these populations (it has long been suspected in Ruddy Shelducks but never proven).

Cheers
Josh

[PeterD]

Josh,

Thanks for your clear explanation.

Peter

[Joe stockwell]

sorry i should have put wildfowl collections not feral populations

[birding in amsterdam]

Bar-headed Goose making it to western Europe as a vagrant is unheard of.

There is a Cat C (i.e. self-sustaining) population in the Netherlands.

In 1977 the Bar-Headed goose was breeding for the first time in the Netherlands. Untill 1986 there were no breeding records. But from 1986 breeding records rised. There are now between 70 and 100 breeding pairs in the netherlands. And their numbers are rising by ca. 10% each year.