Sighting of Red-breasted Goose Branta ruficollis at Ganga Barrage, Bijnor, Uttar Pradesh Rajesh Panwar & Sheela Panwar Panwar, R., & Panwar, S., 2014. Sighting of Red-breasted Goose Branta ruficollis at Ganga Barrage, Bijnor, Uttar Pradesh. Indian BIRDS 9 (4): 99–100. Rajesh Panwar, Ward No.1, Kaladhungi, Nainital, Uttarakhand, India. Email: [email protected][RP] Sheela Panwar, Ward No.1, Kaladhungi, Nainital, Uttarakhand, India. Email: [email protected][SP] Manuscript received on 25 March 2014. most likely it is not the case (David James pers. comm. April, 2014). Frigatebirds records from the eastern seaboard of India are very few and this is the first record of this genus from West Bengal. As this specimen was the sole basis for the inclusion of Christmas Island Frigatebird in the Indian checklist (Praveen et al. 2013), we propose that the species be rejected from the same and it should also not figure in the list of threatened birds of India. Acknowledgements We thank K. Venkataraman, Director, Zoological Survey of India, for his encouragement and support, and the Bird Section staff at ZSI for their assistance. References Harrison, P., 1983. Seabirds: An identification guide. 1st ed. London & Wellington: Croom Helm Limited & A.H. and A.W. Reed Ltd. Pp. 1–448. James, D. J., 2004. Identification of Christmas Island, Great and Lesser Frigatebirds. BirdingASIA1: 22–38. Prasad, A., 2006. Birds of western Maharashtra.A reference guide.1st ed. Mapusa, Goa: Other India Press. Pp. 1–315. Praveen J., Jayapal, R., & Pittie, A., 2013. Notes on Indian rarities—1: Seabirds. Indian BIRDS 8 (5): 113–125. Rahmani, A. R., 2012. Threatened birds of India: their conservation requirements. Mumbai: Indian Bird Conservation Network; Bombay Natural History Society; Royal Society for the Protection of Birds; BirdLife International; Oxford University Press. Pp. i–xvi, 1–864. Rasmussen, P. C., & Anderton, J. C., 2012. Birds of South Asia: the Ripley guide. 2nd ed. Washington, D.C. and Barcelona: Smithsonian Institution and Lynx Edicions. 2 vols. Pp. 1–378; 1–683. Sashikumar, C., Praveen J., Palot, M. J., &Nameer, P. O., 2011. Birds of Kerala: status and distribution. 1st ed. Kottayam, Kerala: DC Books. Pp. 1–835. Sen, S., 2011. Pelagic vagrants: East coast of India. Website: http://www.kolkatabirds. com/pelagicstrays.htm. [Accessed on 1 April, 2014.] Valle, C.A., de Vries, T.,&Hernández, C., 2006. Plumage and sexual maturation in the Great Frigatebird Fregata minor in the Galapagos Islands. Marine Ornithology 34: 51–59. T he Red-breasted Goose Branta ruficollis is one of the most attractive geese in the world, but it is also one of the rarest, and is listed as Endangered by the IUCN (BirdLife International 2014). It breeds on the Taimyr, Gydan, and Yamal peninsulas of Russia, and winters along the western coast of the Black Sea, at certain favourite spots in Bulgaria, Romania, and Ukraine while small numbers also winter in Azerbaijan. Though this bird figured in several checklists of birds of India (see below), recent works (Grimmett et al. 2011; Rasmussen & Anderton 2012) have listed it as hypothetical. On 13 March 2014 we were casually birding while going to our native village in Saharanpur District, Uttar Pradesh. We took a detour from the Ganga Barrage, which is about 12 kms from Bijnor, a district headquarter of Uttar Pradesh (29°22’N, 78°02’E; c. 220 m above MSL), to watch flocks of Bar-headed Geese Anser indicus and other waterfowl in adjacent swampy meadows. We saw hundreds of Bar-headed Geese and spotted a Greater White-fronted Goose A. albifrons in a big flock of the former. As we were returning from the site, SP spotted a different bird in another flock of Bar-headed Geese, which was foraging 129—130. Male Red-breasted Goose foraging with Bar-headed Geese at near Ganga Barrage, Bijnor, Uttar Pradesh. Photo: R. Panwar. PANWAR & PANWAR: Red-breasted Goose 99
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Sighting of Red-breasted Goose Branta ruficollis at Ganga Barrage, Bijnor, Uttar PradeshRajesh Panwar & Sheela Panwar
Panwar, R., & Panwar, S., 2014. Sighting of Red-breasted Goose Branta ruficollis at Ganga Barrage, Bijnor, Uttar Pradesh. Indian BIRDS 9 (4): 99–100.Rajesh Panwar, Ward No.1, Kaladhungi, Nainital, Uttarakhand, India. Email: [email protected] [RP]Sheela Panwar, Ward No.1, Kaladhungi, Nainital, Uttarakhand, India. Email: [email protected] [SP]Manuscript received on 25 March 2014.
most likely it is not the case (David James pers. comm. April, 2014). Frigatebirds records from the eastern seaboard of India are very few and this is the first record of this genus from West Bengal. As this specimen was the sole basis for the inclusion of Christmas Island Frigatebird in the Indian checklist (Praveen et al. 2013), we propose that the species be rejected from the same and it should also not figure in the list of threatened birds of India.
AcknowledgementsWe thank K. Venkataraman, Director, Zoological Survey of India, for his encouragement and support, and the Bird Section staff at ZSI for their assistance.
ReferencesHarrison, P., 1983. Seabirds: An identification guide. 1st ed. London & Wellington:
Croom Helm Limited & A.H. and A.W. Reed Ltd. Pp. 1–448.James, D. J., 2004. Identification of Christmas Island, Great and Lesser Frigatebirds.
BirdingASIA1: 22–38.Prasad, A., 2006. Birds of western Maharashtra.A reference guide.1st ed. Mapusa, Goa:
Other India Press. Pp. 1–315.Praveen J., Jayapal, R., & Pittie, A., 2013. Notes on Indian rarities—1: Seabirds. Indian
BIRDS 8 (5): 113–125.Rahmani, A. R., 2012. Threatened birds of India: their conservation requirements.
Mumbai: Indian Bird Conservation Network; Bombay Natural History Society; Royal Society for the Protection of Birds; BirdLife International; Oxford University Press. Pp. i–xvi, 1–864.
Rasmussen, P. C., & Anderton, J. C., 2012. Birds of South Asia: the Ripley guide. 2nd ed. Washington, D.C. and Barcelona: Smithsonian Institution and Lynx Edicions. 2 vols. Pp. 1–378; 1–683.
Sashikumar, C., Praveen J., Palot, M. J., &Nameer, P. O., 2011. Birds of Kerala: status and distribution. 1st ed. Kottayam, Kerala: DC Books. Pp. 1–835.
Sen, S., 2011. Pelagic vagrants: East coast of India. Website: http://www.kolkatabirds.com/pelagicstrays.htm. [Accessed on 1 April, 2014.]
Valle, C.A., de Vries, T.,&Hernández, C., 2006. Plumage and sexual maturation in the Great Frigatebird Fregata minor in the Galapagos Islands. Marine Ornithology 34: 51–59.
The Red-breasted Goose Branta ruficollis is one of the most attractive geese in the world, but it is also one of the rarest, and is listed as Endangered by the IUCN (BirdLife
International 2014). It breeds on the Taimyr, Gydan, and Yamal peninsulas of Russia, and winters along the western coast of the Black Sea, at certain favourite spots in Bulgaria, Romania, and Ukraine while small numbers also winter in Azerbaijan. Though this bird figured in several checklists of birds of India (see below), recent works (Grimmett et al. 2011; Rasmussen & Anderton 2012) have listed it as hypothetical.
On 13 March 2014 we were casually birding while going to our native village in Saharanpur District, Uttar Pradesh. We took a detour from the Ganga Barrage, which is about 12 kms from Bijnor, a district headquarter of Uttar Pradesh (29°22’N, 78°02’E; c. 220 m above MSL), to watch flocks of Bar-headed Geese Anser indicus and other waterfowl in adjacent swampy meadows. We saw hundreds of Bar-headed Geese and spotted a Greater White-fronted Goose A. albifrons in a big flock of the former. As we were returning from the site, SP spotted a different bird in another flock of Bar-headed Geese, which was foraging
129—130. Male Red-breasted Goose foraging with Bar-headed Geese at near Ganga Barrage, Bijnor, Uttar Pradesh. Photo: R. Panwar.
on ground. We examined it carefully through binoculars but could not identify it. We noted details like its dark brown foreneck and breast, black belly, white stripe on flanks, and white rear belly. A search in Grimmett et al. (2011) was unfruitful. RP took some photographs, for the record, as the bird was way too far for his 300 mm Nikkor lens [129-131]. Though SP insisted on a closer shot, RP refused to cross the swampy land as he was dressed for an occasion, and he also did not want to disturb the flock. We scanned the whole area for any other similar birds, but none were seen.
Festivities of Holi meant that we had little time to search the Internet, or post photos on social networking sites, for help with identification. We returned to Kaladhungi on 16 March 2014 and tried to locate the bird at same spot, but we did not find it. The next day, RP emailed a photo to Soumyajit Nandy who suggested it could be a Red-breasted Goose; then we matched our photographs with other on in the internet. After confirming that our bird was a male Red-breasted Goose, RP uploaded its photograph on the Indian Birds and Birds of India Facebook groups, and soon realised the value of this record.
There have been three previous instances when the Red-breasted Goose was reported from India, however, the evidence provided is not over-whelming and hence these records were considered provisional. They are listed below in chronological order.
1. A report in the Bengal Sporting Magazine of April 1836, VIII, p. 247 of one shot near Nagpur
from amongst a group of four (Blyth 1870). Blanford (1898) and Finn (1915) dismissed this anonymous record, the latter stating categorically, ‘I have looked this up, and quite agree with Blanford that the author of this did not know what he was talking about…’ (p. 70).
2. Baker (1904) identified this bird from the description provided by M. S. Mondy (sic) who saw four, on the banks of River Brahmaputra, along with Greylag Geese sometime in 1904 winter. Though Baker mentions the observer took a, ‘very careful note of its appearance,’ and provided a, ‘minute description,’ these details are found wanting in his note.
3. Several years later, Baker suggests that Mundy (sic) saw only a ‘single’ while he himself saw a ‘flock of five’ that went past his steamer while travelling on the Brahmaputra in March 1907 (Baker 1929), contrary to his own earlier statement.
Hence, this record serves the best evidence for allowing this bird to be listed in the Indian bird checklist.
Our bird is definitely a vagrant as the nearest known present-day wintering areas are in Turkey. The precise winter distribution of Red-breasted Goose varies according to the severity of the
weather from the Crimean peninsula to the Dobrudzha region of Bulgaria. In cold weather, small numbers are occasionally seen on the Aegean shore of Greece and Turkey. Migration is believed to follow a relatively narrow route south down the Ob to Kazakhstan and then east to the Black Sea. There may be other, currently unknown, staging sites and knowledge of the migration route, particularly in Siberia, should therefore be considered incomplete. It is also possible that some wintering grounds remain undetected, and use of these areas during mild weather may account for the variation in winter survey totals in recent years (BirdLife International 2014). The species used to spend the northern winter in Iran along the Caspian Coast until 1950s, but with changing water levels, the main non-breeding area moved over 1000 kms west to the west coast region of the Black Sea in Bulgaria and the birds are being satellite tracked from Bulgaria to Russia to unravel their migration routes (http://bspb-redbreasts.org/).
Association of Red-breasted Goose with Greater White-fronted Goose is well-known and they often migrate together back in spring (Kear 2005). Though this is the first photographic record of the Red-breasted Goose in India, it should be treated as a rare vagrant to the country.
AcknowledgementsRP and SP wish to thank Soumyajit Nandy for helping them in identification of this species, Praveen J. and other online friends for providing useful information about the species and its previous records from India.
ReferencesAli, S., & Ripley, S. D., 1968. Handbook of the birds of India and Pakistan together with
those of Nepal, Sikkim, Bhutan and Ceylon. Divers to hawks. 1st ed. Bombay: (Sponsored by the Bombay Natural History Society) Oxford University Press. Vol. 1 of 10 vols. Pp. 2 ll., i–lviii, 1–380, 1 l.
Ali, S., & Ripley, S. D., 1978. Handbook of the birds of India and Pakistan together with those of Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and Sri Lanka. Divers to hawks. 2nd (Hardback) ed. Delhi (Sponsored by Bombay Natural History Society.) Oxford University Press. Vol. 1 of 10 vols. Pp. i–lviii, 1–382.
Ali, S., & Ripley, S. D., 2001. Handbook of the birds of India and Pakistan together with those of Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and Sri Lanka. 2nd ed. Delhi: (Sponsored by Bombay Natural History Society.) Oxford University Press [Oxford India Paperbacks.]. Vol. 1 of 10 vols. Pp. 2 ll., pp. i–lxiii, 1–384, 2 ll.
Baker, E. C. S., 1904. The occurrence of the Red-breasted Goose (Branta ruficollis) in India. Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society 17 (1): 155–156.
Baker, E. C. S., 1929. The fauna of British India, including Ceylon and Burma. Birds. 2nd ed. London: Taylor and Francis. Vol. VI of 8 vols. Pp. i–xxxv+1, 1–499+1.
Bird Life International, 2014. Species factsheet: Branta ruficollis. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 19 March 2014.
Blanford, W. T., 1898. The fauna of British India, including Ceylon and Burma (Birds). London: Taylor and Francis. Vol. IV of 4 vols. Pp. i–xxi, 1–500.
Blyth, E., 1870. Notes relating chiefly to the birds of India. Ibis 6: 157–176.Finn, F., 1915. Indian sporting birds. Calcutta: Thacker, Spink & Co. Pp. i–xi, 1–280.Grimmett, R., Inskipp, C., & Inskipp, T., 2011. Birds of the Indian Subcontinent. 2nd ed.
London: Oxford University Press & Christopher Helm. Pp. 1–528.Kear, J., (ed.) 2005. Ducks, geese and swans. 1st ed. Bird families of the world (Series).
Perrins, C. M., Bock, W. J., & Kikkawa, J., (eds.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. Vol. 1 of 2 vols. Pp. i–xxi, 1–446.
Rasmussen, P. C., & Anderton, J. C., 2012. Birds of South Asia: the Ripley guide. 2nd ed. Washington, D.C. and Barcelona: Smithsonian Institution and Lynx Edicions. 2 vols. Pp. 1–378; 1–683.
Ripley, S. D., 1961. A synopsis of the birds of India and Pakistan together with those of Nepal, Sikkim, Bhutan and Ceylon. 1st ed. Bombay: Bombay Natural History Society. Pp. i–xxxvi, 1–703.
Ripley, S. D., 1982. A synopsis of the birds of India and Pakistan together with those of Nepal, Sikkim, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. 2nd ed. Bombay; Oxford: Bombay Natural History Society; Oxford University Press. Pp. i–xxvi, 1–653.
