Guwahati: In an incredible wildlife journey, after spending over four months in their southern African wintering grounds, Alang, the second satellite-tagged Amur falcon tagged at the Chiuluan stopover site in Tamenglong, Manipur, last November, crossed over from the northern Arabian Sea to the Indus river delta in Pakistan on Saturday. Scientists at the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) said the bird was continuing its nonstop flight en route to India at the time of reporting.This young female is currently undertaking one of nature’s most gruelling feats — a nonstop six-day, 6,000-km flight from Somalia to the northeast before heading to Far-East Asia. Over the last two days, Alang has covered 3,300km nonstop from Somalia in 59 hours.WII scientists said the bird is expected to reach the northeast on Monday. The WII and the Manipur govt jointly initiated the process to track the migratory journey of Amur Falcons.Incidentally, one of the three satellite-tagged Amur Falcons, named Apapang, already reached Manipur’s Tamenglong district earlier this month. The third bird was last reported in Somalia. WII senior scientist R Suresh Kumar said Apapang was last located in eastern China and was heading towards Beijing.“Alang, being a young female Amur, began its Arabian Sea crossing nearly 15 days after Apapang, the male Amur, left the Somali shores. This was expected, as male Amur Falcons reach their breeding grounds first. Alang has been flying northward since its departure on the morning of May 14,” Kumar told TOI on Saturday.Whether Alang will traverse through Tamenglong, scientists said, only time will tell. “Apapang reached close to Tamenglong, but not all Amurs follow the same route. Some may fly through Mizoram or even lower across Myanmar,” Kumar added.He said these birds return to northern China or Far-East Russia — known as the Amur region — for breeding. Some halt in the Northeast during their return journey, while many fly directly onward. “There is an Amur River in that region where the Falcons breed,” Kumar said. The Amurs migrate to the Amur region for breeding and return to Northeast India in winter before heading back to Africa.Union minister for environment, forest and climate change Bhupender Yadav wrote in a social media post on Saturday that after spending more than four months in their non-breeding grounds in southern Africa, two of these Amur Falcons are now on their spring migration, returning to their breeding region in Far-East Asia. “While crossing from Somalia to northeast India, they undertake a nonstop flight of nearly 6,000km in six days,” Yadav said.“Currently, with favourable tailwinds, the sea crossing will be three-day nonstop. With funding support from @MoEFCC, this project has been one of the successful community-led conservation efforts in India. Alongside, interesting insights on this incredible small raptor, a long-distance trans-hemispheric migrant, have been generated, guiding management and conservation efforts,” Yadav took to ‘X’ on Saturday morning to give the heartening news.In a continued effort over the last decade for conservation of Amur Falcons in northeast India, he said that the three Amur Falcons were satellite-tagged in their stopover site (Chiuluan) in Tamenglong district of Manipur in Nov 2025.
