250-strong team, 40 locations, 1600-km coastline: This weekend, unique exercise in Gujarat to document Amur Falcon's migration
This weekend, around 250 birdwatchers, researchers and nature enthusiasts from different parts of Gujarat and India will be stationed at 40 locations on the 1600-km-long coastline of the state. Their objective? To carry out a first-of-its-kind 'Amur Watch' on Gujarat's coastline to document the bird's return migration from southern Africa to northeast Asia over the state.
The voluntary and free-of-cost exercise, to be carried out on April 26 and 27, is part of an initiative of the Bird Conservation Society of Gujarat (BCSG) to understand the migration pattern of the Amur Falcon over the state in a better way.
Amur Falcon is among the species of birds with the longest migration period in the world. Its population is estimated to be around 1-2 million. Weighing around 200 grams, its average life span is 10-12 years. The Amur Falcon derives its name from the river Amur in Northeast Asia, which covers countries like Mongolia, Russia, North Korea, and China.
According to Devvratsinh Mori, an ornithologist at Ahmedabad University and one of the lead organisers of the initiative, 'Amur Falcon, a small raptor, is known as a bird, which undertakes one of the longest migrations in the world from northeast Asia to southern Africa every year, flying over the Arabian Sea. It also undertakes a return migration in the same manner. It covers a distance of around 20,000 kilometers in the process. And Gujarat is one of the few places in India where the species can be seen during its passage, making it a key region for monitoring their migration.'
From Northeast Asia, the Amurs migrate to southern Africa between September and December. They undertake return migration in the months of April, May and June. Each year, they pass through Gujarat.
Mori says, 'The Amurs have been passing through Gujarat for years. But we do not have any data on its migration over the state. And therefore, we have decided to carry out a research on its migration over the entire Gujarat coastline for the next three-four years starting from this year. It is to find out from where in Gujarat maximum number of Amur Falcons pass through. And then we will concentrate on those locations for further studies.'
The study would include aspects like the number of birds passing through the region, their gender, the height at which they pass, the temperature and humidity in the atmosphere at that time, the time of passage, the size of their flocks etc., Mori adds.
'We will collect the data for 3-4 years, compile it and then analyse it. We plan to come up with a research paper on the study,' according to Mori.
As part of the exercise, the organisers have identified around 40 locations across the Gujarat coastline where the 250-odd volunteers-researchers-scientists — equipped with cameras, binoculars and spotting scopes — will be stationed and observe the passage of Amur Falcons for three hours in the morning and three hours in the evening on April 26 and 27.
Mori says that they plan to do a similar exercise in September-October-November when the Amur Falcons will be doing their inward migration from northeast Asia to southern Africa. In this route, Mori says, the raptors don't majorly pass through Gujarat and instead choose a route traversing states like Maharashtra, Karnataka, Goa, Kerala etc.
President of BCSG Bakul Trivedi says, 'Amur Falcon is a passage migrant and it moves through India twice a year. In its return journey, it chooses a journey loop where it enters India through Gujarat. The bird takes a wondrous flight and covers a distance of 20,000 to 30,000 km while passing through continents. So, we want to study its migration in terms of its relation with Gujarat.'
Trivedi says that they had done a similar study in 2024, but on a smaller scale. At that time, it was done for two days at a stretch in around 45-50 km coastline in Bhavnagar and Amreli districts. During that limited exercise, around 150 Amurs were sighted passing through Gujarat.
'This year, we decided to expand our exercise and cover the entire coastline of Gujarat,' he says.
Viral Joshi, a birder from Amreli and one of the coordinators of the initiative, says, 'BCSG does a number of works related to birds in Gujarat. And this initiative is its new one concerning Amur Falcons. This small raptor has been passing through Gujarat for years, but we do not have much information about it. So, this initiative will create awareness about this natural phenomena on the Amur Falcon's passage from Gujarat and its conservation.'
Senior scientist at Wildlife Institute of India (WII), Dehradun, R Suresh Kumar, a noted researcher and expert on Amur Falcons in India, calls the initiative 'quite symbolic' which will create awareness about the long migration of the 'small raptor weighing 200 grams' which crosses Arabian sea in a single flight.
Kumar says, 'Amur Falcons, while migrating from northeast Asia to Africa, enter India through northeast (regions of Nagaland and Manipur). And during this journey, they don't pass through Gujarat majorly. On the return migration, they again enter India. But this time, Gujarat becomes a gateway.'
He adds, 'So, if you want to see the Amur Falcon, it is not that you have to go to Nagaland or Manipur, you can also go to Gujarat (in April-May-June). There you will get 100% sure-shot sightings… Let's assume you are a person who wants to see the Amur Falcon, it's not that you have to wait till November and go and see it in Manipur and some of those remote places…'
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