View Full Version : Bar-headed Goose
wigan1895
2nd Jan 2008, 09:32
Hi
Over the hols I was reading a paper on the migration patterns of the Bar Headed Goose (sad I know), and how it is regularly seen over the top of Everest over 29,000 feet, and the paper went to say it has been seen at 33,000 feet and I was wondering if any members of Crew or regular flyers have seen birds at great hight. For those who don't know this bird there is a nice piece at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bar-headed_Goose
whiowhio
2nd Jan 2008, 15:36
Hi there 1895
As a Wildfowl (Ducks, Geese & Swan) enthusiast I picked up on your post immediately. Wildfowl were going to be my life's hobby but in the event I went on to do greater 'hobby' things.... My main involvement with Wildfowl was with The Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust at Slimbridge. One element was the development of a Portable Hatching-Egg Incubator put together in the TBK 'Casualty' hangar at LHR. The incubator(s) were used in a number of 'species at risk' and educational projects, the pertinent one in this case being the transport of live Bar-headed Geese eggs from LHR-DEL in the cabin of a BA 747 and then in similar fashion by Indian Airlines A300 to Kashmir back in the 80's.
I've previously noted the apparently particularly broad wing area of A. indictus and figure that this has evolved to facilitate sitting in that thin air!
Interested to know what 'paper' you were reading and why?!
Sorry if I've twisted the thread some Mods but am sure some will find interesting.
Regards
Rod.
Twist away - if the worse comes to the worse we can always eat the duck next Christmas. (Only joking....:))
I believe I read somewhere that the record height for a birdstrike was in the high 30's. Either Andes or Himas I think. Cannot recall the species.
EDIT: Found a link of sorts. http://www.birdstrike.org/commlink/top_ten.htm and http://www.pprune.org/forums/showthread.php?t=197260 even mentions your bird in post #18
aviate1138
2nd Jan 2008, 17:21
Was onboard a DC-10 enroute Barbados out of LGW in 2002 and we had to return from Bay of Biscay as the centre engine ingested a large bird at around 28,000+ feet. Identified as some form of goose by a resident Engineer/Ornithologist at LGW.
whiowhio
3rd Jan 2008, 07:20
Cheers BOAC
I have printed-off that Audubon article on post #18 and will read with great interest over coffee. Much Appreciated! :ok:
wigan1895
3rd Jan 2008, 08:08
Hi
thanks for the replies, Rod the paper was in Global Environmental Research published in 2000
the details are below, the reason is fun, while I cant claim anything like your skill level or involvement my reading tends to cover very odd areas covering my interests in bird life, hill walking and odd uses of computing devices in their many forms. Its fun when you can combine your hobbies with work!
Kieron
The paper details Title;Tracking the Spring Migration of a Bar-headed Goose (Anser indicus) Across the Himalaya with Satellite Telemetry.
Authors JAVED S(Aligarh Muslim Univ., Aligarh, Ind) TAKEKAWA J Y(U.s. Geological Survey, California, Usa)
ISSN:1343-8808
VOL.4;NO.2;PAGE.195-205(2000)