Imphal: Among the thousands of Amur falcons from China and Siberia that stop over in the forests of Tamenglong district in Manipur on their way to Africa, 11 of them were captured, tagged with satellite transmitters, and released back into the wild on Friday.
Officials from the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), the state forest department and local volunteers trapped the raptors – locally known as Akhuaipuina – in Tamenglong district’s Chiuluan village, which borders Nagaland to the north and Assam to the west.
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Of them, two of the Amur falcons – Chiuluan2 and Guangram – were equipped with satellite transmitters for real-time tracking, while the remaining nine were fitted with identification rings.
The tagging and monitoring of the raptors were done under the guidance of WII’s Suresh Kumar. The project aims to track the migratory routes of this globally threatened species.
The government has been raising awareness about Amur falcons and efforts are underway to protect the migratory bird since 2015. Two Amur falcons, named Tamenglong and Manipur, were geo-tagged in the past.
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The migratory avian species spend their summers at their breeding grounds in south-eastern Siberia and northern China. They migrate to their wintering grounds in South Africa, where they begin their return journey in April or May.
In between, they stop in the Northeastern states of India, especially in parts of Manipur and Nagaland. They leave the region in November after having enough food for their non-stop flight to Africa.
These longest-flying migratory birds undertake a yearly journey covering an aerial distance of up to 22,000 kilometres.
The Manipur forest department conducted a census of Amur falcons last year, with the report stating that around 1.4 lakh of these small raptors had sojourned in the forested areas of the state.