A male Amur falcon fitted with a satellite tag, dubbed ‘Chiuluan 2’, completed a staggering 40,000 km round-trip migration from southern Africa, before its transmitter failed in Russia in August after travelling roughly 6,000 km on the return leg.

Senior scientist at Wildlife Institute of India (WII), Dehradun, Suresh Kumar announced on Thursday, that the bird was equipped with a satellite transmitter on November 8 last year in Manipur’s Tamenglong district to monitor its migratory path.

Kumar detailed that ‘Chiuluan 2’ landed at Karlapat Wildlife Sanctuary in Odisha’s Kalahandi district on April 30 after a 4,000 km flight from southern Africa. On May 1, signals placed it 30 km from Phulbani, and by May 2, it was in Dhenkanal forests.

Route across continents

From Odisha, the falcon proceeded to Bangladesh’s Sundarbans mangroves, then traversed Myanmar, Wuhan in China, and crossed the Yellow Sea and Bohai Sea. It reached Manchuria Bay in northeastern China on May 20. After navigating several nations, it entered Russia in August, with the final transmission on August 18 due to a technical fault.

Ongoing research efforts

“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.

On the same tagging date, November 8, 2024, a female Amur falcon named ‘Guangram’ was also fitted in Manipur. It arrived in Kenya on February 1, 2025, but its transmitter ceased functioning that very day owing to technical problems.

Kumar explained that the satellite-tagging initiative seeks to deepen insights into Amur falcon migration patterns and strengthen protective strategies for this far-ranging species.