Satellite-tagged Amur Falcon flies 4,750 km non-stop from Somalia to India

Apapang, the satellite-tagged male Amur Falcon. Pic/By Special Arrangement

Journey of the Male Amur Falcon Apapang

>> Male Amur Falcon "Apapang" flew non-stop for 95 hours from Somalia to India, covering nearly 4750 km.
>> The bird was satellite-tagged in November 2025 at Chiuluan in Tamenglong district under the Amur Falcon Migration Project.
>> After recently crossing the Arabian Sea, Apapang made its first halt near the Son River close to Varanasi. The falcon later rested overnight in the Gaya district before reaching Manipur.
>> Amur falcons migrate over 20,000 km annually between Mongolia, northern China and South Africa.

Map by Suhas Kale

Fuel up in Nagaland

Amur falcons migrate from eastern Asia to southern Africa, stopping for nearly two months at Nagaland's Doyang Dam Reservoir to fuel up for their long open-water crossing over the Indian Ocean. The birds cover more than 20,000 km between Africa and northern China, flying across the Arabian Sea.

4750
Distance in kilometres that the falcon travelled