35 Amur falcon birds take a halt in Palghar district

The birdwatching community of Vasai-Virar was in for a treat to witness a flock of 35 Amur falcon, a champion migratory bird known as the world’s longest travelling raptor, basking in the warmer climes of Gogte saltpans between Nala Sopara and Vasai.

Mumbai: The birdwatching community of Vasai-Virar was in for a treat to witness a flock of 35 Amur falcon, a champion migratory bird known as the world’s longest travelling raptor, basking in the warmer climes of Gogte saltpans between Nala Sopara and Vasai.

35 Amur falcon birds take a halt in Palghar district (Pravin Babre)

The place is a halt for the avian beauties to rest, fatten up and take another journey towards South Africa and other warmer regions.

Palghar-based birder Pravin Babre captured the winged beauties in its glory that generated a lot of enthusiasm among other birdwatchers in the area. One of them is Amol Lopes who informed that the iconic bird undertakes long migratory journeys from colder regions like Siberia, Russia, China among others to warmer places like South Africa, India and eastern nations. The Amur falcon can cover about 22,000 km annually.

“The migrating Amur falcon flies at night too, crossing vast oceans to stop in Nagaland and Bangladesh to fatten up before staging for overland flights across Peninsular India,” added Amol Lopes.

Subsequently, they cross the Indian Ocean to East Africa non-stop over 3,000 kms, flying day and night. This falcon is an “elliptical migrant” because its route back home is largely overland to the northwest.

The avian beauty is sized between 21 cm to 31 cm, feeds on grasshoppers, dragonflies,and insects and is abundantly found in Pangti, Wokha district, Nagaland, which is protected under the Indian Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. This is their favourite halt for at least a few weeks.

Lopes also informed, “We have created the Vasai Birds app and since 2012 till date we have documented more than 310 bird species in the Vasai-Virar belt and birdwatchers post any new sightings on the app for fresh updates.”

The Gogte Salt pans are made of shallow watered salt pans and two major lakes - Chulne lake and Gass but five years from now the salt pans will vanish due to concrete jungles coming up and thus the birds habitat will be in danger, worry bird watchers as the salt pans provides food and shelter to many migratory and resident species of birds.

Adesh Shivkar, founder member of Mumbai Bird Watchers’ Club and a bird expert said, “The name of Amur falcon derives from areas of North Mongolia, East Siberia which is also called Amurland. The bird is vulnerable to poaching as during their migration, poachers would kill an average 20,000 birds per day for its meat in Nagaland which has now stopped.”

Shivkar also shared that in Nagaland, poachers would trap the Amur falcon by poisoning their prey-fish- during the stopover period and after environmentalists protested to the Nagaland government, the poaching has stopped and now the same poachers are working as bird guides and spreading awareness about the need to protect and conserve the falcons.

The birds settle in Goa, Mumbai, Gujarat, Kerala and western coasts to fatten up and then fly to South Africa crossing the Arabian Sea and in the return trip take a different route, said Shivkar, adding “We need to save the birds’ passageway such as the Gogte saltpans as it an important ecosystem and habitat.”