SmartBirds
This spring, a joint team of experts from the ACBK and M. Kozybayev North Kazakhstan University successfully carried out the capture and satellite tagging of Red-breasted Geese in northern Kazakhstan as part of two international conservation initiatives: the BSPB “Conservation of Key Sites for the Red-breasted Goose along the Flyway” funded by Whitley Fund for Nature Continuation funding program and the BirdLife International “Champions of the Flyway”.
Despite difficult weather conditions and the notoriously unpredictable behaviour of the birds during the spring staging period, the field team managed to successfully fit 11 Red-breasted Geese with satellite transmitters. The tagged birds will now provide invaluable information on migration routes, stopover ecology, habitat use, survival, and the location of key staging and wintering areas along one of the world’s most threatened migratory flyways.
This year’s fieldwork represents the culmination of many years of dedicated international cooperation and conservation efforts, as both projects are approaching their final implementation phase. The successful tagging campaign demonstrates the importance of long-term collaboration between conservation organisations, scientific institutions, local experts, and international donors working together for the protection of the globally threatened Red-breasted Goose.
Satellite tagging is identified as one of the priority conservation measures in the work plan of the AEWA Red-breasted Goose International Working Group. Over the past decade, telemetry research has become one of the most important tools for understanding the species’ migration ecology and supporting evidence-based conservation actions across the entire flyway.
The information collected from tagged birds plays a crucial role in supporting on-the-ground monitoring efforts and identifying the most important staging, moulting, and wintering sites used by the species. The data also helps conservationists evaluate threats and better understand changes in migration patterns in the context of climate change and rapidly changing environmental conditions. In recent years, telemetry studies have already revealed substantial shifts in the distribution and migration behaviour of the species, likely linked to changing agricultural practices, habitat transformation, weather anomalies, and warming climatic conditions.
Importantly, satellite tracking also helps highlight poaching incidents and the ongoing persecution of migratory birds along the flyway. Signals from tagged birds can provide critical evidence about mortality hotspots and illegal killing, helping conservation organisations and authorities target conservation measures more effectively and raise public awareness about the threats faced by migratory waterbirds.
The work in Kazakhstan is especially significant because northern Kazakhstan hosts some of the most important spring staging areas for the global population of the Red-breasted Goose. Large numbers of birds concentrate in the region before continuing their migration towards their Arctic breeding grounds, making these habitats critically important for the survival of the species.
The tagging campaign was made possible thanks to the support of the Whitley Fund for Nature Continuation Funding programme and BirdLife International through the “Champions of the Flyway” initiative. This project continues to demonstrate the value of international flyway cooperation and sustained investment in science-based conservation measures for migratory species.
The conservation teams involved hope that similar initiatives will continue in the future, helping to secure the long-term survival of the Red-breasted Goose through improved understanding of its migration ecology and stronger international cooperation across the flyway.
