Photo: Vagabond Images
AMUR FALCON
(Falco amurensis)
Over the course of 12 months, this remarkable bird of prey flies from Siberia to south-east Africa, and then back to Siberia, finishing an extremely long 22,000 kilometre migration. These falcons breed in south-east Russia and northern China, followed by a migration through India and across the Arabian Sea to southern Africa where they spend their winters. Along the migration route, they spend a month in Nagaland, one of India's smallest states in the far north-east of the country, where they fatten up and strengthen themselves by feeding on insects. Their winter diet appears to be a wide range of insects either in the air or on the ground, but they also take small birds, mammals and amphibians to feed feed their young in the breeding range. As many as 1 million Amurs will make the stopover in Nagaland (see photo below). Their immense and spectacular roost in Nagaland is reputed to be the largest by any species of falcons in the world.
Photo: Rami Sreenivasan
Please comment if you wish.
BarrytheBirder
No comments:
Post a Comment