WWGBP & EWT MEDIA RELEASE: JOY AS MIGRATORY ARMUR FALCON REACHES ITS 
WINTERING GROUNDS IN SOUTH AFRICA     



JOY AS MIGRATORY AMUR FALCON REACHES ITS WINTERING GROUNDS AGAIN IN SOUTH 
AFRICA 



18th January 2013

Raptor enthusiasts across the world were overjoyed and relieved to learn 
that a migratory adult female Amur Falcon Falco amurensis finally reached her 
wintering grounds at Newcastle in KwaZulu-Natal again on the 10th of January 
2013 after an eventful 14 500km journey from the species’ breeding grounds 
in north-eastern China  which started in mid-October last year.

This bird was fitted by Prof. Bernd Meyburg of WWGBP, the World Working 
Goup on Birds of Prey,  with a solar-powered satellite transmitter on 10th 
January 2010 after being captured at the Newcastle roost by a team of raptor 
enthusiasts from South Africa and Germany. The 5g prototype made by Dr. Paul 
Howey of Microwave Telemetry, Inc. (USA), pioneer in developing tiny satellite 
tags, has been transmitting information on the bird’s movements to 
researchers of WWGBP on a regular basis ever since. It is estimated that she has 
flown at least 90 000km on migration over the last three years between the 
wintering grounds in southern Africa and the breeding site in north-eastern 
China. The migratory route includes a ±3000km three-day-non-stop flight across 
the Indian Ocean which is the longest migratory flight across the sea by any 
raptor known to man.

Said Andre Botha, Programme Manager of the Endangered Wildlife Trust’s 
(EWT) Birds of Prey Programme: “Apart from the challenges that these little 
raptors, which weigh approximately 100-180g and have a wingspan of 58-70cm, face 
while crossing the ocean, there are other threats that impact on these 
birds while they fly over land. Recent reports of large numbers of Amur Falcons 
being slaughtered for food at their roosts in Nagaland in north-eastern 
India caused a lot of concern for the long-term survival of this species. It was 
estimated that up to 145 000 of these birds were caught and killed annually 
to be sold as a source of protein during the few weeks they spent in the 
area while they are on  passage.”

An international outcry by conservation organisations against this practice 
however resulted in rapid action by Indian authorities and NGOs to bring 
the indiscriminate killing under control. A strategy is now being put in place 
to prevent these killings from happening in future and to encourage and 
support communities in Nagaland to find alternative sources of food.

The tracked female is known to have been in the area when the massacres 
were taking place, but she was lucky enough to escape the hunt and resume her 
autumn migration to reach the coast of East Africa in late November and 
ultimately made her way to the winter roosts in the Kruger National Park and the 
Highveld of South Africa.

“We are incredibly fortunate that the unit fitted to this bird continues to 
transmit information of her movements three years later. These tiny falcons 
probably do not have a long lifespan,” said Dr Bernd Meyburg, a well-known 
raptor biologist from Germany who was responsible for sourcing the funding 
and led the team involved in the fitting of tracking units to the birds in 
2010.

As part of its monitoring of over-wintering populations of Amur Falcons and 
two other species of migratory falcons, the Red-footed Falcon Falco 
vespertinus and Lesser Kestrel Falco naumanni, the EWT’s Birds of Prey Programme wi
ll conduct its annual National Migratory Falcon Roost Count at more than 50 
roosts across South Africa. Volunteers will again visit known roosts to 
determine the number of birds that congregate there on the late afternoon on the 
25th of January 2013. Data collected from these counts will provide an 
estimate of the global population of at least two of these species and may also 
provide an indication of the impact of the Indian massacres on the Amur 
Falcon. Interested members of the public are welcome to join teams participating 
in this count and can contact the project coordinator Rina Pretorius for 
more information at 083 327 0789 or Rina.Pretorius@gijima.com


Contact:

Prof. Bernd-U. Meyburg
World Working Group on Birds of Prey (WWGBP)
BUMeyburg(at)aol.com
www. Raptor-Research.de--
www.Raptors-International.org

Paul W. Howey, Ph.D.

President
Microwave Telemetry, Inc.
paul@microwavetelemetry.com
www.microwavetelemetry.com

André Botha
The Endangered  Wildlife Trust 
Manager
Birds of Prey Programme
Tel: +27 82 962 5725
andreb(at)ewt.org.za

Rina Pretorius
Rina.Pretorius@gijima.com
Tel.: 083 327 0789
 



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