Two satellite-tagged Amur falcons return to India on spring migration from Africa

New Delhi: Two of the three Amur falcons satellite-tagged in Manipur’s Tamenglong district in November 2025 are now passing through India on their return to breeding grounds in the Far East, after spending the winter in southern Africa. Union Environment Minister Bhupendra Yadav confirmed the development in a post on X on Saturday.

“Having completed more than four months in their non-breeding grounds in southern Africa, two of these Amur Falcons are on their spring migration, returning to their breeding region in Far-East Asia via India,” Yadav said.

Amur falcons undertake one of the longest migratory journeys of any raptor, traveling nearly 22,000 km annually from Siberia and northern China to southern Africa and back. Nagaland and Manipur serve as key stopover sites where the birds roost in large numbers during October-November.

The three falcons were tagged in Tamenglong last November as part of a tracking project to study migration routes, stopover ecology, and conservation threats. Satellite data is helping researchers monitor their real-time movement and the health of critical habitats along the flyway.