Tezpur (Assam): With the mercury level dipping in the hills of India's Northeast, villages are now welcoming their beloved winged visitors.
Amur falcons, among the fastest flying birds, have started to arrive in the hills of Nagaland and Manipur. The amur falcons start their journey from Siberia towards Africa, flying a distance of over 29,000 kilometres.
It is interesting to note that the falcons were killed by the villagers in the past for their meat. However, due to active steps taken by the government and some NGOs, the villagers have turned protectors of the Amur falcons, who have been now drawing a large number of tourists.
Tourists arrive in the Northeastern hills to witness the annual migration and roosting of the Amur falcons.
The villagers formed voluntary groups, who monitor the movement of falcons from a distance and ensure that no harm is done to the migratory birds.
The arrival of the Amur falcons have elated the villagers in Tamenglong district of Manipur this time as one of the birds, named 'Erang' after one of the villages, and was radio collared by the forest department and the NGOs, has reached the roosting site at Tamenglong this year.
Forest officer of the Tamenglong district, KH Hitler said that in 2019, five of the falcons were radio collared.
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"The birds were named as Erang, Puching, Chiulon, Phalong and Barak. While Erang, Puching, Chiulon, Phalong are named after some villages in Manipur, Barak is named after the Barak river. They were radio collared by the Manipur forest department and Wildlife Institute of India," Hitler said.
"We are very happy that out of the five birds, two have arrived in Manipur after 361 days," he added.
It is pertinent to note that after the forest department radio collared the birds in October last year, two of the birds lost their radio signal after they crossed the border into Bangladesh.
