Greylag Goose

Sighting records of Greylag Goose (Anser anser) from Maharashtra Raju Kasambe*, Dr. Anil Pimplapure**, Mr. Gopal Thosar*** & Dr. Manohar Khode# *G-1, Laxmi Apartments, 64, Vidya Vihar Colony, Pratap Nagar, Nagpur440022, Maharashtra E-mail: [email protected], Phone: (0712-2241893) **Q-12, Siddhivinayak Apartments, Laxmi Nagar, Nagpur-440022, Maharashtra ***Honorary Wildlife Warden, 66, Ganesh Colony, Pratap Nagar, Nagpur440022, Maharashtra #Shivaji Nagar, At. Warud, District Amravati, Maharashtra. Dr. Manohar Khode alongwith birder friend Mr. P. D. Lad had gone to birdwatching on 31st October 1993 at Pandhari reservoir near Warud in Amravati district of Maharashtra. They got a pleasant surprise when they saw a flock of large birds looking somewhat like domestic goose but greybrown in colour. The size was as big as Barheaded Goose (Anser indicus) but they were different in colouration. On comparison with colour plates in the Pictorial Guide (1995) they identified the geese as Greylag Goose (Anser anser). Total 11 geese were sighted here. Thereafter a follow up was kept every year at the Pandhari reservoir in winter. However Greylag Goose was not sighted again. Probably this flock was vagrant. The Greylag Goose is large goose with overall gray colour, pink bill and pink legs. It is winter a visitor to the northern subcontinent. On 31st December 2006, the authors (RK, AP, GT) visited Shiregaon Bandh reservoir near Navegaon Bandh Sanctuary in Gondia district of Maharashtra. Again authors visited Shiregaon Bandh reservoir on 1st January 2007. From the roadside we could see few Greylag Goose at the far end of the reservoir. Then we visited the backside of the reservoir. We were delighted to see a big flock of around 90-100 Greylag Goose at a distance of 100 meters from us. However the birds got our presence felt and flew with loud nasal ‘aang… aang’ calls and landed far off in deep waters. We must add that next day Mr. Bhimsen Patil Dongarwar (pers. com.), birdwatcher and nature lover sighted around 130 Greylag Geese here. Also Bhimsen informed us that in winter 2006 he had seen 71 geese at Itiadoh and 91 geese at the Shiregaon Bandh reservoir.

According to Dr. Salim Ali (1996) the geese are “winter visitor to northern India, uncommon to rare in the south”. According to Rasmussen (2005) it is “vagrant farther south, once to Sri Lanka”. Humayun Abdulali (1973) did not report this species in the checklist of Maharashtra. D’Abreu (1923, 1935) mentions it as “winter visitor to the Nerbudda” (now Madhya Pradesh). Sighting of Greylag Goose south to Madhya Pradesh is rare hence these records assume importance. Probably these are first reports of the sighting of Greylag Goose from Maharashtra state. Acknowledgements: Thanks to Mr. B. Mujumdar, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Maharashtra State) for his help during this trip to the Navegaon Bandh. Thanks to Mr. Bhimsen Patil Dongarwar for sharing the information. References: Abdulali, H., (1973): Checklist of the birds of Maharashtra with notes on their status around Bombay. Bombay Natural History Society. Pp.1-16. Ali, S., (1996): The Book of Indian Birds. Bombay Natural History Society. Oxford.Pp.1-354. Ali, S. & Ripley, S. D. (1995): A Pictorial Guide to birds of the Indian Subcontinent. Bombay Natural History Society. Oxford.Pp.1-183. D’Abreu, E. A. (1923): A hand-list of the birds of the Central Provinces distinguishing those contained in the Central Museum at Nagpur together with notes on the nidification of the resident species. Govt. Press. Nagpur.pp.1-65. D’Abreu, E. A. (1935): A list of the birds of Central Provinces. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc.38: 95-116. Rasmussen, P.C. & Anderton, J.C. (2005): Birds of South Asia. The Ripley Guide. Vol.1. Smithsonian Institution and Lynx Edicions, Washington, D.C. Recommended citation:

Kasambe, R., Pimplapure, A. Thosar, R. & Khode, M. (2007): Sighting records of Greylag Goose (Anser anser) from Maharashtra. Newsletter for Birdwatchers. Vol.47 (6): 94.