Manipur’s radio-tagged falcon Chiulon returns home

Our Correspondent
Imphal, Oct. 19 (EMN): A radio-tagged adult Amur falcon (falcon Amurensis) — Chiulon — which had reached her breeding area in northern China in May this year during her routine annual migration course, has finally arrived in Manipur’s Tamenglong district, a Wildlife Institute of India (WII) scientist said.

WII scientist R Suresh Kumar, who is currently monitoring the route of the migratory bird, informed that Chiulon arrived home at 4:15 am on Tuesday near Tamenglong after a year-long travel.

On Oct. 31 and Nov. 1, 2019, a 5-member WII team led by scientist Kumar had radio-tagged five Amur Falcons, including two males, at Puching village in Manipur with the support of the state Forest department, Tamenglong district administration, Rainforest Club, Tamenglong, and locals.

The five Amur falcons were named Chiulon, Puching and Phalong (all names of villages in Manipur’s Tamenglong district) and Irang and Barak (both names of rivers).

“This is the second time Chiulon arrived earlier by a week since the tag and release. In Oct. 2020 it arrived earlier on Oct. 26, 2020 and departed after two weeks on Nov. 11, 2020 on its migration to Africa. This makes me very happy…feel so connected to this bird and the beautiful Tamenglong,” the WII scientist who had tagged more than a dozen Amur Falcons in the last six years said. Irang, another Satellite radio-tagged Amur falcon, is still on its way in China, he added.

Both Irang and Chiulon were dubbed as Manipur’s Amur ambassadors by the state Forest department.

These pigeon-sized migratory birds locally known as Akhuaipuina which migrate to their wintering grounds in South Africa, usually arrive in large numbers during Oct. in Nagaland and Manipur besides a few places in northeast India undertaking a yearly journey of about 20,000 km. They leave the region in Nov. after having enough food for their non-stop flight to Africa, where they spend their winters.

The radio-tagging of Amur falcons started in Manipur in 2018 as part of an initiative to conserve wildlife and also to study the route these long-distance migratory birds take and the environmental patterns along their route.