Journal of Threatened Taxa |
www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 May 2023 | 15(5): 23273–23275
ISSN 0974-7907 (Online) | ISSN 0974-7893
(Print)
https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.8432.15.5.23273-23275
#8432 | Received 06 March 2023 | Final
received 18 April 2023 | Finally accepted 05 May 2023
Sighting of Lesser
White-fronted Goose Anser erythropus (Linnaeus, 1758) (Aves: Anseriformes: Anatidae) in Hadinaru Kere, Mysuru, India
Basavaraju Shivakumar
1 & Gopal Praphul 2
1 #4616, Link road, 3rd
Cross NR Mohalla, Mysuru, Karnataka 570007, India.
2 Salim Ali Centre for
Ornithology and Natural History, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu 641108, India.
1 shivanna.mys@gmail.com,
2 praphulgopal.btr@gmail.com (corresponding author)
Editor: H. Byju,
Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India. Date
of publication: 26 May 2023 (online & print)
Citation: Shivakumar, B. & G. Praphul (2023). Sighting of Lesser White-fronted Goose Anser
erythropus (Linnaeus, 1758) (Aves: Anseriformes: Anatidae) in Hadinaru Kere, Mysuru, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 15(5): 23273–23275. https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.8432.15.5.23273-23275
Copyright: © Shivakumar & Praphul 2023. Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. JoTT allows
unrestricted use, reproduction, and distribution of this article in any medium
by providing adequate credit to the author(s) and the source of publication.
Funding: None.
Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.
Acknowledgements: We thank Dr. H.N. Kumara for his guidance and support for writing this manuscript,
and also Dr. H.V. Santhrupth
for his continuous support.
The Lesser
White-fronted Goose Anser erythropus is classified as ‘Vulnerable’ by the IUCN
Red List due to a decline in the key breeding population in its breeding
grounds in Russia, and a further decline in global population (BirdLife International 2023). They are long-distance
Palearctic migrants that breed intermittently in the subarctic zone from
northern Fennoscandia to eastern Siberia; wintering and staging regions, as
well as their migratory routes, are only partially understood (Jones et al.
2008). In India, the bird winters in several areas like Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh,
West Bengal, Bihar, Assam, Rajasthan, and Maharashtra (Rahmani
2012). However, most sight records from India are still refuted and best
regarded as tentative (Praveen et al. 2014), yet from 2013 onwards the bird has
been sighted in the Kutch region of Gujarat (Khan 2013; Shreeram
& Deomurari 2014).
On 10 February 2023,
the first author on his birding to Hadinaru Lake
recorded a smaller bird with a chocolate brown head, a prominent white patch
above its pink beak, and a golden yellow eye ring among a huge flock of
Bar-Headed Geese Anser indicus. Slow
approach was made to the bird and was photographed for identification (Image
1,2) and later the bird was identified using field guide (Grimmett
et al. 2016) as Lesser White-fronted Goose Anser
erythropus from its characteristics.
Hadinaru Lake lies between
12.178–12.17 0N & 76.74 –76.759 0E, in the Nanjangud Taluk, Mysuru District, Karnataka State. The
catchment area of the lake is 8.57 km2. The lake hosts several
migratory birds such as Eurasian Wigeon Mareca
penelope, Northern Pintail Anas acuta, Northern Shoveler Spatula
clypeata, Common Pochard Aythya
farina, Striated Heron Butorides striata, Eurasian Marsh-Harrier Circus aeruginosus, Osprey Pandion haliaetus,
and Greater Spotted Eagle Clanga clanga (Gopal Praphul 2005–2020
pers. obs.). During its peak winter season, the Bar Headed Goose
population rises to 400–600. In a total of 15 visits from 10 February 2023 to 4
March 2023, a lone Anser erthyropus was documented along with the gaggle of
Bar-Headed Geese.
The available
literature indicates that all the earlier sightings are confined to northern
and northeastern India and a few sporadic sightings in the west (Praveen et al.
2014) (Figure 1). The present record of the bird this far in inland southern
peninsula adds to its current distribution range. Thus, the current sighting
stands to be the first record for the state of Karnataka and southern
India.
For
figure & images - - click here for full PDF
References
BirdLife International
(2023). Lesser White-fronted Goose (Anser
erythropus)—BirdLife
species factsheet: Anser erythropus. http://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/lesser-white-fronted-goose-anser-erythropus.
Downloaded on 03 March 2023.
Grimmett, R., C. Inskipp & T. Inskipp (2016). Birds of the
Indian Subcontinent: India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and
the Maldives. Bloomsbury Publishing, 528 pp
Jones, T., K. Martin, B. Barov
& S. Nagy (Compilers) (2008). International single species
action plan for the conservation of the Western Palearctic population of the
Lesser White-fronted Goose Anser erythropus. AEWA Technical Series No.36. Bonn, Germany,
130 pp.
Khan, A. (2013). First Record of
Lesser White-Fronted Goose Anser erythropus from Gujarat, India. Journal of the
Bombay Natural History Society 110(3) 224–224.
Praveen, J., R. Jayapal
& A. Pittie (2014). Notes on Indian
rarities—2: Waterfowl, diving waterbirds, and gulls
and terns. Indian BIRDS 9(5 & 6): 113–136.
Rahmani, A.R. (2012). Threatened Birds
of India: Their Conservation Requirements. Bombay Natural History Society,
861 pp.
Shreeram, M.V. & A. Deomurari (2014). A record of Lesser-Anser erythropus and
Greater-White-fronted Geese A. albifrons from
Gujarat, India. Indian BIRDS 9(5 & 6): 148–149.