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© Sedgwick County Zoo, credit: Bill Chambers

Bar-headed Goose

Anser indicus

Physical Characteristics

  • These gray and white geese have two horseshoe-shaped, brownish-black bars on the back of their white head.
  • Size of average adult
    • length: 30 inches
    • weight: 4 - 6.5 pounds

Diet

  • Wild: plants, also may eat crustaceans and invertebrates in some areas

Behavior

  • Crepuscular (dawn and dusk) or nocturnal feeders
  • Low, nasal voice, honk has a musical quality
  • Migrate at high altitudes over the Himalayas, have been observed flying over the summit of Mt. Everest
  • Island sites preferred for nesting, may nest singly or in colonies
  • Reproduction
    • sexual maturity: about 3 years
    • clutch size: 4 - 6 white eggs
    • incubation: 27 days by the female

Environmental/Global

  • Habitat: high mountain lakes
  • Distribution: southeast Russia, northern India and western China for breeding, northern India and northern Burma for the winter
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