Amur Falcon

 Welcome back readers! I just thought that since I haven't really focused on birds of prey in my posts, I'll write one article on a quite mysterious, yet very intelligent and rare bird. This lucky raptor is none other than the Amur falcon. 

The Amur falcon is one of India's rarest Autumn-visitors. These birds start their journey typically from mid-October to November, to journey to Southern Africa, to spend the Winter. On the way there, they stop in North-eastern India, to refuel themselves with winged-termites, that arrive in states like Nagaland, during this time. These birds have got their name from their breeding grounds near the Amur river, a river that lies between the Russian far-east and North-eastern China. Many other species of animals and birds, like the Amur leopard, are well-known from that region. These birds are often mistaken as similar looking birds called, Red-footed falcons. The difference between these birds are that male Amur falcons have white underwing coverts while male Red-footed falcons have dark grey underwing coverts. Female Red-footed falcons are known to have reddish-orange shading on head, breast and rump, which isn't present in Amur falcons. But did you know that both were mistaken as the same species for a long time? Well, let's get back to our main subject.  

Even though the Amur falcon has an overall healthy population, globally, in Nagaland it is being poached, despite the Indian government's Wildlife Protection Act. This has caused these birds to be vulnerable in many parts of the state. However, we should be spreading awareness on these situations and try to help such birds as much as we can......


Amur falcon. Illustrated by: True Indian 


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