Episode 29: The flight of the Amur Falcon

Bird Podcast with Shoba Narayan

This episode is about the magnificent migration of the Amur Falcons, the largest raptor migration in the world.

It is 4:30 AM on a cold day in November. A group of us from Bangalore are driving from Dimapur to Hakhezhe, Nagaland to observe a spectacle like nothing we’ve seen before: the greatest raptor migration on earth.

The Amur falcon or Falco amurensis breeds between Northern China and Southeastern Siberia. Amurland. Where the Amur river-- the tenth longest in the world flows. Unusually for this year, these falcons have come near Dimapur. They are roosting overnight on the sal and teak trees. Come dawn and they will fly, looking for the large amount of insects-- termites, dragonflies, bees and others-- that they will catch on the wing.

They are headed for Eastern and Southern Africa where they will winter in warm climes, eating locusts and termites in the fertile red earth of Africa. To get there, they undertake one of the most arduous migrations in the world. First they fly from Siberia to Northeast India. They stockpile food and fat and then fly in one stretch over peninsular India and then over the Indian ocean, covering anywhere from 22,000 kilometres to 30,000 kilometres, over five long days and nights.

Listen to this podcast but also go to the episode page for more links about the successful conservation story behind Amur falcons.