KENDRAPARA: A satellite-tagged male Amur falcon, which reached Odisha on April 30, has reportedly lost its transmitter in Russia in August after covering around 6,000 km.
On Thursday, senior scientist at Wildlife Institute of India (WII), Dehradun Suresh Kumar said the bird, named ‘Chiuluan 2’, was tagged with a satellite transmitter on November 8 last year in Tamenglong district of Manipur to track its migratory route. It made an incredible journey of around 40,000 km during its return migration from southern Africa.
Kumar said the bird reached Karlapat Wildlife Sanctuary in Kalahandi district on April 30 after flying about 4,000 km from southern Africa. On May 1, it was tracked around 30 km from Phulbani. The next day, it was found in the forests of Dhenkanal.
From Odisha, the Amur falcon flew to the mangrove forests of Sundarbans in Bangladesh, before passing through Myanmar, China’s Wuhan, and crossing both the Yellow Sea and Bohai Sea. It eventually reached Manchuria Bay in northeastern China on May 20. After covering multiple countries, it arrived in Russia in August, and the transmission ceased on August 18 due to a technical snag.
“Over the years, our team has been involved in tracking the fine-scale movements and migrations of several species including Amur falcons from northeast India, and cranes and flamingos in the arid plains of western India. Recently, many Amur falcons have arrived in Manipur, and we plan to fit satellite transmitters on three more birds soon,” Kumar said.
Along with ‘Chiuluan 2’, another female Amur falcon ‘Guangram’ was also tagged in Manipur on November 8, 2024. The bird reached Kenya on February 1, 2025, but its transmitter stopped sending signals the same day due to technical issues.
Kumar said the ongoing satellite-tagging project aims to better understand the migratory behaviour of Amur falcons and enhance conservation measures for this globally migrating species.