Indian Wildlife Club Ezine (April, 2016)

From the lands of the lamas

One of the world's highest-flying avian wintering in the backyards of three Indian nuclear power plant sites

 -J. Devaprakash

Birds are meant for flying. But do all the birds have the same prowess? While most birds fly within 2000 m elevation, there are some high-altitude fliers that soar even up to great heights of around 5000 m. But the Bar-headed Goose – just a foot-long duck that weighs only 3 kg – owns an incredible flying ability to fly above the Himalayas at prodigious elevations of nearly 9000 m. And for this extraordinary feat, the bird is feted as world’s highest-flying bird.

At this altitude, where the oxygen content in the air is only half, where temperature is anything below zero degree Celsius, and where the wind blows much like a hurricane with a speed of more than 110 miles per hour, human survival is a real struggle. For a human, it takes several days to climb to an altitude of 21,000 feet, that too after undergoing an acclimatisation programme in which he has to train his body to adapt to the low oxygen levels. This requires at least a month or till he adapts to the local climatic conditions. 

But the Bar-headed Goose doesn’t need any of these, thanks to its physiological strengths. It not only flies over the Himalayas which also has the planet’s tallest mountain the Mount Everest, but also manages to cross the mountain range in one single stretch of about 8 hours non-stop flight, according to several scientific reports. Amazed by this extraordinary flying ability, many scientists studied its physiological aspects to know the basis of this high-altitude flight, which unravelled several interesting facts among which two are intriguing. First, the greatest density of capillaries (the tiny blood vessels) and red blood cells found in their body supplies adequate level of oxygen to the muscles. Second, they also have a capability to breathe rapidly sans dizziness, an action called hyperventilation, which helps the bird to get required amount of oxygen into their blood.

But why does this goose fly to such a high altitude – where atmosphere is not conducive – -risking its life?  The plain and obvious answer to this puzzling question is migration. Like many other birds, the Bar-headed Goose, too, migrates mainly for two reasons: one, to escape  harsh weather  and two, to take advantage of abundant food available in its wintering places. While most migrants fly at moderate heights, this goose has to soar high to cross the Himalayas, as this mountain range lies between its migration route. 

The migration of the Bar-headed Goose takes place twice a year. It first flies from its breeding areas in China, Mongolia and Tibet – commonly called as the land of the lamas, as these countries are known for their Buddhist priests and monasteries – to south Asia, including India, over the Himalayas at the onset of winter. After having spent the winter in a relatively moderate climate, eventually, they fly back to their breeding locations, just before summer, crossing the Himalayas once again. 

 

In the Indian Territory, Ladakh is the only breeding place for the Bar-headed Goose, while its wintering grounds range from the northern plains to the northeast region to the southernmost tip of the country. Among its far-flung distribution range in India, the Goose is seen around three Indian nuclear power plant sites, namely, Narora Atomic Power Station (NAPS) in Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan Atomic Power Station (RAPS) in Rajasthan and Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KKNPP) in Tamilnadu.

Observing the Bar-headed Goose and other migratory birds is part of the Environment Stewardship Programme (ESP)  a voluntary initiative being pursued with an aim to monitor and conserve the biodiversity around the Indian nuclear power plant sites  of Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL).  The NAPS site, in Narora in the western part of Uttar Pradesh, has a freshwater lake called Hakkimpur wetland that attracts a great deal of migratory birds in winter besides being an abode to several resident birds all year round. “There were at least 500 individuals of the Bar-headed Goose found roosting in the Hakkimpur wetland this year,” says Raja Mandal, the secretary of NAPS nature club. 

The Rawatbhata region in Rajasthan, where RAPS is located, has at least three major water bodies namely, Bhainsroadgarh, Singhadiya and Borabas Talab,  where these migratory geese are found.  A report and a checklist of birds of Rawatbhata, published by the Gyps Nature Club members of RAPS based on a year-long survey, shows that the Bar-headed Geese were spotted in these three wetlands in the year 2013.

While at the far end of mainland India, in the Koonthankulam bird sanctuary, near the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project, a huge congregation of the Bar-headed Goose is seen. Just a stone’s throw away from the sanctuary lies another freshwater lake called the Kadankulam lake. These twin lakes are the preferred destinations of the Bar-headed goose, which has been revisiting this place every winter since last several years. About 2500 individuals of the Bar-headed Goose were found here in February 2014 and in March 2016. Even more interesting part of this study was the spotting of some geese with collar bands in the midst of this huge congregation; at least 10 such geese were noticed. The collar bands were in green, red and yellow and were numbered. 

The tagged birds

“The colour and the tag number signifies two important information”, says Dr. Balachandran, Deputy Director of Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) and an internationally renowned bird researcher. “They represent the country which ringed the bird and the year of ringing,” he adds. The bird with a green collar band around its neck is from Mongolia, and the one with the yellow collar is from China, and so on.

Ringing, tagging and satellite transmitter fixing are the techniques used by ornithologists to study the migratory pattern of birds, its flying behaviour and to monitor them. Dr. Balachandran, who is a well-known bird ringer, has ringed more than 2 lakh  birds and spotted at least 30 tagged birds that were from countries like Russia, China, Mongolia, Saudi Arabia, Oman and Iran. When birds migrate, he migrates, too. While the former migrate essentially for food and breeding, the latter does it to study them. In non-migratory seasons, he settles in a small village called Agateeswaram. Since this village is  very close to the Koonthankulam bird sanctuary, he finds ample opportunities to study resident birds during non-migratory seasons. 

“If seeing the world’s highest-flying bird is a wonderful thing, then seeing them at your own place – right at your doorstep – is another amazing experience,” exclaims Dr. Balachandran.

Text and photo: J. Devaprakash 

The author is Manager at NPCIL. 

He is also a keen bird watcher and a wildlife photographer.

                                                         When  beauty knocked at my door

-Jitender Dhir

How I would  feel  when  some  beautiful woman  or a special person  knocks at  my  door, is  just 

what I felt few days  back when the same thing happened in my  birding world.

In the later morning , when I was at my home (west Delhi) , a distinct sound of black kites which shows a freaking  emotion, caught my  attention.  I was aware that this is a sound of  fear or danger to  them mostly by some intruder entering their territory.  It raised my brows and  I rushed to the spot with my gear and  as expected the intruder was a  lovely and majestic Crested serpent  Eagle.  This  was the same bird I saw here two  weeks  back also  but then was  unable  to  photograph it.  I was lucky  this  time. This was the second  visit of the  bird in the area within fifteen days and  that’s something which made me  both  happy and  sad at  same  time.  Happy because it was making regular  visits here which is a gift for a  birder and  sad  because movements  of such birds, which are more adapted to wild  habitats, in urban settings  mostly indicate decrease in their habitat.  Crested serpent eagle is a distinct eagle with crested body , beautiful  white bands on under parts of  wings  and tail.  That’s why it looks  even more  beautiful in flight.  It feeds mainly on snakes (which give the name “serpent eagle”), frogs, lizards and  small birds.

As kites were harassing it  continuously , and it was continuously asking them to  let it stay in their territory, I felt  pity for it.  I am sure if  kites  would spare it, then it may  even nest here, as  it was making  regular  visits  and   the area  has pretty good variety of  big trees and  other greenery.   Birds which are adapted to urban areas usually  see wild  birds (specially a  raptor) as threat and  harass  them away.  So  that’s one of  the big reasons why  wild birds may not be  seen in urban habitats.  Even if they want  to nest and share habitat, they are not  allowed by urban ones. This is  very sad not  only to the bird looking for  a habitat (specially  today when habitat loss is a main concern) but also  for a birder like me,  who  would otherwise have got a chance to  witness this  beauty daily.

Even if a wild bird  make itself adapted to  urban habitats it has to compromise and compete with the urban ones  making its survival challenging. 

The crested serpent eagle mainly feeds on snakes and reptiles, so it is mainly found in dense forested areas. It is found in regions of thick vegetation of may be low lying hills or plains. It can also be found in other habitat types like open grasslands ,deciduous forests and others where there are large trees. It is absolutely rare to sight it in urban areas though not completely impossible. So I was lucky to have this rare bird sighted and not only once but multiple times with last one recently.

After much tolerance, the eagle  ultimately  took off  and  left the area.  I can certainly see in its eyes , the words – I shall be  back soon.  I still await it to come again.  Really it was an unexpected experience where  “Beauty  knocked at my door”.

               

Jitinder Dhir is a Birdwatcher and wildlife enthusiast from New Delhi.  He can be contacted at jitenderdhir@indiatimes.com or at 91 9899848480 

Note:  At least 36 species of dry-land birds have been spotted in India’s coastal state of Kerala, known for its sultry weather, indicating a change in weather pattern, rapid urbanisation and deterioration in habitat, says an analysis of eBird data (http://indiaclimatedialogue.net/2016/03/23/dry-land-birds-wing-wet-kerala/).   Jitender Dhir's article calls for a similar analysis to be done in North India too.