Snow goose Anser caerulescens: An addition to the Indian avifauna

2 Pages·1991·1.4 MB·

by  Taej Mundkur

446 JOURNAL, BOMBAYNATURALHIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 88
—
SNOW GOOSE ANSER CAERULESCENS AN ADDITION TO THE INDIAN
7.
AVIFAUNA
The only reference to the snow goose Anser blackwedge above a whitetail. Theheadwas stained a
caerulescensinIndianliteratureisthatofawhitegoose dull yellow in the region ofthe forehead and ahead of
shot in Kashmir in February 1950 (Editors 1950). the eyes and ear coverts. The feathers on both sides of
However,onlaterexaminationthespecimenwasfound the neck formed parallel creases slanting upwards
to be a partial albino of a greylag gooseAnser anser towards the nape. Thebill and legs were two shades of
,
thereby expungingthe snowgoose fromtheIndian list pink, in clear contrast to the yellowbill andlegs ofthe
(Abdulali 1966, Ali and Ripley 1983). This paper barheaded.
presents observations made on a single snow goose, The geese lifted off together and flew to a
observedtwiceandphotographedinearlyJanuary 1989 neighbouringmudbank when approached closer. This
at a reservoir in Gujarat. providedusanexcellentopportunitytoobservethemin
flight. The white goose hadblackprimaries, light grey
OBSERVATIONS
primarywingcovertsandthesecontrastedwellwiththe
In January 1989, a team from the Department of rest of the white wing feathers. The barheads in
Biosciences, Saurashtra University, and the,World comparison were a light grey with dark grey black
Wide Fund for Nature - India, Saurashtra Division, retrices and remiges. From all these field characters, it
Rajkot, carried out surveys of waterbodies in the was clearthatthewhite goosewas an adultsnowgoose
Saurashtra region of Gujarat as part ofthe third Asian Anser caerulescens.
Midwinter Waterfowl Count, the complete results of TWo days later we visited the reservoir again to
which will appear elsewhere. document the bird on film. The gaggle was atthe same
A
On 9 January at 0940 hrs we reached Muli spot and thebirds permitted close approach. flockof
reservoir (22°39’N, 71°30’E), which is also known as demoiselle craneAnthropoides virgo a pair ofIndian
,
Naika-I or Wadhwan Bhogawo-I and is situated black ibis Pseudibis papillosa and a small group of
north-eastofthetown ofMuli (Surendranagar district). ruddy shelduckTadornaferruginea alsorestedwiththe
From the dam wall in the east, we observed a flock of group. The geese were photographed satisfactorily.
geese on a mud bank on the north-west side of the
DISCUSSION
reservoir. The flock consisted of 23 barheaded geese
Anserindicusandonevery conspicuouslywhitegoose. The reservoirs of Surendranagar district of
We were too far away to see the bird clearly and so we Gujarat are now well known wintering sites for
skirted about the reservoir to get a better view. migratory geese. Raol (1988) first recorded a flock of
The landbordering the waterhere was cultivated barheads at Muli on 14 January 1984. Since then,
withcottonGossypiumsp.andtallstandsoiEucalyptus barheads, and/or greylag gooseAnser anserhave been
globulus. There was a small pond bordering the main observed here every winter and some of the
reservoir with just a wall separating them. Along the observations have been summarised by Van der Ven
wall was a thickgrowth ofmcsquiteProsopischilensis (1987) and Daniel (1988). But this is the first time that
thatwasbeingcutdownbyvillagers.Agoatherdtended we have observed the snow goose.
his flockthat fed close to the water’s edge. Justbeyond The only previous reference of the snow goose in
the wall and continuous with it was a gently sloping Indiaisofawhitegooseshotfromaflockofninegreylags
mud bank with geese at the farther edge. Some ofthe byGeorgeNedouon26February 1950(Editors1950).On
birds rested on the grass growing on the bank. Others later examination ofthe birdby Humayun Abdulali and
fedonvegetationthathademergedwiththefall inwater SD.Ripley,itwasfoundtohavebeenwronglyidentified,
level. The white goose consorted with the group and and was in fact a partial albino greylag (Abdulali 1966).
fed.Theywerenotdisturbedbyourpresence,norbythe One of us (T.M.) has examined this specimen in the
goat herd, his goats and the woodcutters. collection oftheBNHS.Theprimariesarea shade ofdull
Using a telescope, we were able to observe the brown and quiteunlikethejetblackin the goose we saw.
finer points of this white goose very clearly. It stood Colour transparencies of our observations clearly show
slightlytallerthanthebarheadeds.Itwasentirelywhite the black primaries and other important identification
except for the ends ofthe wings which at rest formed a features ofthe species.
MISCELLANEOUSNOTES 447
To the best of our knowledge there are no snow down with the cold front that caused a severe winter
geese maintained in captivity in India and so the over much ofnorth and central Asia duringDecember
possibility of this bird being an escapee from 1988 and January 1989.
We
collections within the country is remote. therefore
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
conclude that the snow goose should be once again
added to the list ofIndian avifauna. One of us (T.M.) is grateful to the University
The breeding range of the snow goose extends Grants Commission, New Delhi, for a research
from north-east Siberia, west to north-west Greenland fellowship during the course of which these surveys
We
andacrossarcticNorthAmerica(CrampandSimmons; were made. are thankful to Mr. Chandrakant
1977). The winteringgrounds in Asia are in east China Aghara foraccompanyingus andtakingpictures ofthe
andJapan.InEuropeitisconsidered anannualvagrant, goose.Prof.R.M.Naikkindlycommentedonanearlier
but due to escapees from waterfowl collections there, draft ofthis manuscript.
the status there remains impossible to determine. The
MUNDKUR
bulk ofthe arctic populationhoweverwinters inNorth TAEJ
PRADEEP PANDYA
America and mainly around the Gulf ofMexico.
The snow goose should at present be strictly NARENDRASINH JHALA
considered as a vagranthere. One possible explanation RISHAD PRAVEZ
for its presence in India may be that the bird travelled October 16, 1989 SH1VRAJKUMAR KHACHAR
References
—
Abdulali, H. (1966): Notes on Indian birds 9 Anser DanielJ.C. (1988): WetlandsandWaterfowlNewsletter1 :A
caerulescens caerulescens (Linn.) and Anser fabalis 17.
brachyrhynchusBaillonto beremoved fromtheIndian Editors (1950): Th—e SnowGoose(AnserhyperboreusPallas)
avifauna.J.Bombaynat.Hist.Soc. 63:198-200. in Kashmir An addition to the avifauna ofIndia.J.
Au, S. & Ripley, S.D. (1983): HandbookoftheBirdsofIndia Bombaynat.Hist.Soc.49:311-312.
and Pakistan. Compact edition. Oxford University Raol,L.M. (1988):BarheadedandGreylagGeeseinGujarat
Press,Delhi. J.Bombaynat.Hist.Soc.85:416-417.
Cramp, S. & Simmons, K.E.L. (1977): Handbookofthe Birds VanderVen,J. (1987): AsianWaterfowl 1987. International
ofEurope,theMiddleEastandNorthAfrica.NewYork WaterfowlResearchBureau,Slimbridge.
SHIKRA ACCIPITER BADIUS TAKING CARRION
8.
AbluerockpigeonColumbaliviawasfounddead evidence that the closely related sparrowhawk
on 6 June 1988, at 0600hrs on the lawn ofDarbargadh Accipiter nisus take carrion (apart from their previous
palace at Jasdan in Saurashtra, Gujarat. It had been kills)wasthe factthatthey were occasionallypoisoned
A
killed by the palace dogs the previous night. House when they took meatbaits put outby gamekeepers.
crows Corvus splendens fed on the corpse during the photograph by B.E. Swann (in Gensbol 1987) shows a
morning and at 1400hrs a shikraAccipiter badius was goshawk Accipiter gentilis and white-tailed eagle
observed feeding on it. Disturbed by our presence it Haliaeetus albicilla at laid out carrion in winter.
flewwiththecarcasstoatree inthecompound.Raptors ApparentlyAccipiters do take carrion in times of
are opportunists and species of the genus Aquila and stress but this is the first record of a shikra doing so.
Haliaeetus are known to feed frequently on carrion Incidentally Saurashtra at this time was reelingunder
when opportunity avails (Ali and Ripley 1978, Brown the third consecutive year ofdrought,butthetwo pairs
and Amadon 1968, Brown et. al. 1982, Cramp and of shikra I observed successfully reared young. The
Simmons 1983, Clark and Wheeler 1987, Gensbol shikrawasadailyvisitortothecompound.Probablythe
1987). This appears to be an uncommon feeding same individual was earlier observed taking a
behaviour among Accipiters. Ali and Ripley (1978), displaying adult magpie-robin Copsychus saularis
Brown and Amadon (1968), Brown et. al. (1982), and vulnerably exposed near its nestbox.
Cramp and Simmons (1983) make no mention ofthis
habit though Newton (1986) states that the only November 22, 1989 RISHAD NAOROJI