Assessing site-safeguard effectiveness and habitat preferences of Bar-headed Geese (Anser indicus) at their stopover sites within the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau using GPS/ GSM telemetry

Background:The Bar-headed Goose(Anser indicus)breeds across the high plains and plateau of Central Asia and winters in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau(QTP),the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau and the Indian sub-continent.Of the two recognized discrete flyways of the Bar-headed Goose,the Eastern Tibetan Flyway(ETF)is the larger,comprising at least six migration routes.However,we remain ignorant about their migratory connectivity,habitat use and effectiveness of site-safeguard mechanisms set in place for the species.Methods:We tracked 30 ETF Bar-headed Geese from Chinese and Mongolian breeding areas to their wintering grounds using GPS/GSM transmitters,to determine their migration routes and stopover staging patterns within the QTP,overlaying these upon GIS layers of protected area status and habitat type,to model their habitat selection.Results:In total,14 tagged Bar-headed Geese provided information on their entire autumn migration and 4 geese on their entire spring migration.Qinghai Lake marked birds overwintered in the QTP(n=2),geese tagged in Mongolia wintered either in the QTP(n=3)or in India/Bangladesh(n=9),representing three of the migration routes within the ETF.In total,tagged birds staged at 79 different stopover sites within QTP in autumn and 23 in spring,of which 65%(autumn)and 59%(spring)of all fixes fell within the boundaries of either National Nature Reserves(NNRs)or Important Birds Areas(IBAs)in the QTP.Bar-headed Geese predominantly occurred on four land-cover types:grassland(mostly by day),water bodies(at night),wetlands and bare substrates(salt flats,dry lake/river substrates and plough)with little change in proportion.Generalized linear mixed models comparing presence with pseudo-absence data suggested geese strongly selected for wetlands as staging habitat,avoiding bare substrates in spring.Conclusions:Based on our limited observations of these tagged geese,this study is the first to show that the current designated National Nature Reserves in place in the staging areas within the QTP appear adequate to protect this increasing population.In addition,Hala Lake in Qinghai Province and adjacent areas used as initial QTP staging during autumn migration(currently outside of designated as NNRs/IBAs)are recommended for protection,based on their use by tagged birds from this study.Habitat modelling confirmed the importance of natural wetlands as feeding areas and safe areas of open water as roosting places.

Power line strikes by Black-necked Cranes and Bar-headed Geese in Tibet Autonomous Region

We investigated collisions with power lines by Black-necked Cranes (Grus nigricollis) and Barheaded Geese (Anser indicus) along the Yarlung Tsangpo River in the Tibet Autonomous Region during two winters.Three segments of a 35 kV transmission line were surveyed each winter for injured and dead birds.Injured birds disappeared within five days of their initial detection; most dead birds encountered had been scavenged.We recorded two dead geese on transects and two injured geese and two dead cranes adjacent to transects.We found a higher incidence of bird strikes along power line segments close to roosting and foraging areas.We recommend that power lines,new or old,located in the flight path from nocturnal roosts,near important foraging areas or crossing the mouths of important agricultural valleys should be marked with colored and/or reflecting devices that have been proven to reduce crane and goose collisions.