AMUR
FALCONS - ENVIRONMENT
News: Beyond Amur falcons: Nagaland to undertake first bird count
What's
in the news?
●
Nagaland is undertaking the first avian
documentation exercise to go beyond Amur falcons, the migratory raptor that put
the State on the world birding map.
● The four-day Tokhü Emong Bird Count (TEBC) from November 5 has been timed with the post-harvest Tokhü Emong festival of the Lothas, the Naga community that dominates Wokha district, arguably the most preferred stopover of the Amur falcons while travelling from east Asia to southern Africa.
Amur
Falcons:
●
Amur Falcon birds are the longest flying migratory bird on earth.
● It is the world’s longest-traveling raptor.
Habitat:
●
It breeds in south-eastern Siberia and
Northern China before migrating in large flocks across India and over the
Arabian Sea to winter in Southern and East Africa.
●
They depart for their winter residence in
South Africa around the end of November and stay there through April.
●
The birds travel through India in one
direction for around 20,000 kilometers twice a year.
● In some regions of Manipur, they spend three to four weeks gaining fat stores by consuming termites that emerge nearby
Stopover
in India:
●
Doyang
Lake in Nagaland is known for the Amur falcons stopover
during their annual migration from their breeding grounds to warmer South
Africa.
●
“Falcon
Capital of the World” title is given to Nagaland for this
reason only.
● Ecosystem Services: Amur Falcons stay in Nagaland for around a month and help in maintaining the ecosystem by feeding on a large number of insects, thus controlling their population.
Conservation:
●
Protection
Status: The migratory bird is protected under the Wildlife
Protection Act 1972 and included under its Schedule
IV.
●
IUCN
Status: Least Concern.
●
Amur Falcons are also protected under the Convention on Migratory Species, to
which India is a signatory, making it obligatory for India to protect the
birds.