Tracking data reveal high spatiotemporal consistency in migration of the threatened Taiga Bean Goose (Anser fabalis middendorffii) along the East Asian-Australasian flyway

Research tracking the migration of the threatened Taiga Bean Goose (Anser fabalis middendorffii) from 2017 to 2021 reveals high spatiotemporal consistency in their annual migration along the East Asian-Australasian flyway. The geese consistently used familiar stopover and wintering sites, with strong temporal consistency in departure and arrival at summering sites but more variability at wintering sites. Key stopover locations included the Hongyashan Reservoir and Hetao Plain in China, and the Orkhon River Valley in Mongolia, with a notable preference for repeatedly used sites where stopover durations were significantly longer. Alarmingly, only 13% of these critical stopover sites are currently protected, highlighting an urgent need for conservation action to safeguard this underprotected yet consistently utilized habitat.

Zhang, J., Meng, F., Batbayar, N., Emelyanov, V., Rozenfeld, S. B., Davaasuren, B., Damba, I., & Cao, L. (2025). Tracking data reveal high spatiotemporal consistency in migration of the threatened Taiga Bean Goose (Anser fabalis middendorffii) along the East Asian-Australasian flyway. Global Ecology and Conservation, 62, e03652. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gecco.2025.e03652