#0739 · 🐦 birds

Bar-headed Goose

🇳🇱 Indische Gans ·Anser indicus

LCleast concern 🐦 Birds 📍 in the Netherlands (introduced)

8 photos from iNaturalist (Creative Commons) · credits & licences

what is it?

The bar-headed goose ( Anser indicus ) is a goose that breeds in Central Asia in colonies of thousands near mountain lakes and winters in South Asia, as far south as peninsular India. It lays three to eight eggs at a time in a ground nest.

base stats

NL sightings 71iNaturalist, research grade
worldwide 6,168iNaturalist observations
weight 2.5 kgadult, up to
threat LCleast concern

Bars compare against all animals on log scales: up to 300,000 Dutch and 600,000 worldwide sightings (the most-seen species), 150 t (blue whale), 30 m and 400 years (Greenland shark).

fun facts

Spotted 71 times in the Netherlands on iNaturalist.
6,168 observations worldwide on iNaturalist.
Weighs up to about 2.5 kg.
Scientifically named by John Latham in 1790 (236 years ago).
Not originally Dutch: it was introduced to the Netherlands.

fact sheet

English: Bar-headed Goose
Nederlands: Indische Gans
scientific name: Anser indicus
class: Aves
order: Anseriformes
family: Anatidae
IUCN Red List: LC · least concern
in NL: introduced
sightings in NL: 71
sightings in Europe: 2,218
sightings worldwide: 6,168
GBIF records in NL: 24,053
weight: 2.5 kg
length: —
lifespan: —
named: 1790 by John Latham

IUCN in Dutch: niet bedreigd. Blank means the sources don't say.

relatives· Anatidae

Sources: iNaturalist taxon 7008, Wikidata Q191125, GBIF 2498035, Wikipedia (EN), Wikipedia (NL). Intro text from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.