The Story
I photographed this Bar-headed Goose (Anser indicus) at the Zhangye National Wetland Park in Zhangye, Gansu, China on March 28, 2018. It is much paler than the other grey geese in its genus. In summer it grazes on short grass around high-altitude lakes. It breeds in Central Asia in colonies near high mountain lakes and winters in South Asia. IUCN lists the species as Least Concern. The park partly overlaps the Zhangye Heihe Wetland National Nature Reserve, which covers 41,164 hectares and was listed as a Wetland of International Importance in 2015. Zhangye’s wetlands are a stopover on the Central Asian flyway, one of the world’s major bird migration routes.
I took this with a Pentax K-1 and the HD PENTAX-D FA 150-450mm F4.5-5.6ED DC AW, at 1/800 sec, f/10, ISO 200. The wetland’s managers are working to restore habitat that farming and falling water tables have degraded.
©2018 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Bar-headed Goose (Anser indicus) belongs to the family Anatidae (Ducks, Geese, and Waterfowl) in the eBird/Clements taxonomy.
Source: eBird.org (opens in a new tab)
Conservation
Least Concern on the IUCN Red List (assessment published 2018), with the population trend listed as decreasing. Source: IUCN Red List