Migration routes and behaviours of the Bar-headed geese, one of the world’s highest-flying birds having grey bodies, and a few other waterbirds wintering at the famous high-altitude Wular Lake in Jammu and Kashmir are all set to be monitored in real-time through sophisticated solar-powered radio collars to be tagged on their neck.
The project, first of its kind in the region will be soon launched by the Dehradun-based Wildlife Institute of India (WII), an autonomous body under the Union Environment Ministry.
Wular Lake, one of India’s 75 Ramsar-designated wetlands, is internationally recognised for its ecological significance. Despite facing numerous environmental challenges, it continues to support a diverse array of flora and fauna, attracting wildlife enthusiasts, tourists, and locals alike.
The advanced GPS satellite tracking technology integrated into these solar-powered collars will offer real-time insights into the birds’ movements and behaviour, particularly during their initial return migration. The lightweight collars, which weigh between 50 and 70 grams, are designed specifically for large geese and features high solar efficiency, thus doing away with the limitations of the radio-collars based on conventional batteries, said a scientist from the WII on the condition of anonymity. He said the agency is in the process of procuring the solar-powered radio collars.
These gadgets will use the Global Positioning System (GPS) to record location, travel patterns, speed, temperature, and magnetic field strength. They transmit this data to researchers via GSM cellular networks whenever the birds are within range of network towers. GSM, or Global System for Mobile communications, is the standard international cellular protocol used for this purpose, he informed.
By combining movement and habitat use data with diet studies conducted by other partners, conservationists and habitat managers will be better equipped to develop strategies that accommodate growing populations of these migratory birds. “The decision to select the type of birds to be radio collared will be finalised only after we receive the gadgets,” said the scientist.
The WII scientists will initiate collaring the geese for over a year-long study to determine the proportion of migratory geese that winter at Wular Lake. The GPS-GSM transmitters will be mounted on the birds’ necks, providing valuable data on their travel and resting sites.
The collars that have been planned to be procured need to be durable, and waterproof with GPS logging intervals ranging from 1 second to 48 hours and high-frequency sensors (up to 50 Hz) that can measure acceleration, magnetism, temperature, and light intensity.
In such devices, data storage is maintained even in the absence of a network connection, and the devices offer remote control for GPS and GSM schedules, night-time GPS hibernation, and geofence settings through an online control panel, the scientist explained about the features of such techs.
“Currently, we do not know what exact routes these birds take … With this study, we will be able to find their major stopovers as well their behaviours,” he said.
Bar-headed geese, part of the Anser family, are recognized by their unique and striking plumage. They feature a distinctive combination of white and grey feathers, with prominent black stripes on their heads and necks, and bright orange-yellow bills and legs. Their wingspan ranges from 140 to 160 cm. Although males and females look quite similar, males are slightly larger than females.
The birds arriving at Wular Lake each year among others include mallards, greylag geese, pochards, common teal, shovelers, pintails, and gharwals, typically between October and April.
