Bar-headed goose - The bird that flies at extreme altitudes

10 Sep 2019

Bar-headed goose – The bird that flies at extreme altitudes

Bar-headed goose – The bird that flies at extreme altitudesThe Bar-headed Goose is a bird famous for flying at high altitudes during its migrations.

Every year, the birds migrate over the Himalayas from India to the Tibetan highlands in China and Mongolia.

During this journey, they have been tracked at flying above 8,000 metres (above Mount Everest)!

These birds migrate to escape from summer monsoon season and winter storms.
 	They prefer to live in high altitude mountain lakes and are found in countries like Afghanistan, Bangladesh Bhutan, China, India, Mongolia, and more.
 	These birds can cover a distance of more than 1609 km in a single day.
 	Being in constant flight helps them generate body heat, which keeps ice from being formed on their wings while flying over the mountains.

All birds generally have very efficient hearts and lungs. But the Bar-headed geese have even larger, thinner lungs that help them breathe more deeply and a bigger heart to pump more oxygen.

As we know, human beings need oxygen to climb high altitudes like the Himalayas. Therefore, researchers are studying these birds' behaviour in extreme temperatures to see if they can find answers to help humans to survive high altitudes and to deal with respiratory diseases.

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The Bar-headed Goose is a bird famous for flying at high altitudes during its migrations. Every year, the birds migrate over the Himalayas from India […]

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