From Novinite

Red-breasted goose in Bulgaria to be fitted with tracking equipment

The red-breasted goose has arrived in Bulgaria, its traditional winter habitat, and some of the birds will be fitted out with GPS equipment in order to track them, Bulgarian television channel BTV reported.

More than 6000 birds have migrated to the country. The breed, which numbered more than 90 000 about 15 years ago, has suffered a drastic population collapse and is now regarded as threatened. According to the report, about 80 per cent of the world's red-breasted goose population migrate to Bulgaria in winter.

The red-breasted goose breeds in Arctic Europe, often close to nests of large birds of prey such as peregrine falcons. This helps to protect this small goose from predators such as the Arctic fox. It is a rare migrant to the UK and other western European countries, where it is sometimes found with Brent flocks.

In Bulgaria, the birds flock mainly to the Primorska Dobrudzha region. The campaign to fit the birds with GPS equipment was launched in November 2009 and will continue until May 2014, at a cost of 2.6 million euro, the report said.

All the species of the Branta genus are distinguished by their dark sooty colour, relieved by white, and as a distinction from the grey geese of the genus Anser. This species is unmistakable, but can be surprisingly difficult to find among Brent Geese due to its small size. The red also tends to look black from a distance.