KENDRAPARA: A male Amur Falcon, which was fitted with a satellite transmitter in Manipur on November 11, reached Odisha by covering a distance of around 1,500 km in just two days.
The Amur Falcon, ‘Apapang’, was tagged with a satellite transmitter on Tuesday by scientists of the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), Dehradun at Tamenglong forest in Manipur to track its migratory route. According to senior scientist of WII Suresh Kumar, the bird entered Odisha on Thursday. “It flew past Balasore, Satkosia and Phulbani, and we located it at 11.30 am on Thursday at Baliguda in Kandhamal district,” he said.
Notably, three Amur Falcons, Apapang (male), Ahu (female) and Alang (female juvenile), were tagged with lightweight satellite transmitters weighing about 3.5 gram each and released from the Chiuluan roosting site in Tamenglong on Tuesday. The transmitters, attached using Teflon ribbons, will help scientists study the falcons’ transcontinental migration routes, Kumar said.
“We are surprised that one of the tagged birds, Apapang, reached Odisha within two days after being released. The ongoing satellite tagging project aims to better understand their migratory behaviour and strengthen conservation efforts for this globally migrating species,” Kumar added.