Somewhere above the Arabian Sea, a bird lighter than a smartphone was flying continuously without rest for several days. There is no runway, no ship, and no island to land on, just a vast and endless ocean below and thousands of kilometers ahead.
This bird, named Alang, is an Amur falcon satellite-tagged in Manipur, and scientists from the Wildlife Institute of India are now following one of the most extraordinary journeys of a small raptor in the natural world.
The Impossible Journey of Amur Falcon
This female Amur falcon named ‘Alang’ has returned to India for a stopover after spending more than four months in her South African wintering grounds. This nonstop journey had covered around 6,000 km across the Arabian Sea. This little bird of prey was satellite tagged in November 2025 at Chiuluan Village in Tamenglong District, Manipur, by scientists from the Wildlife Institute of India. She was being tracked during her extraordinarily long journey and migration from Africa to India.
The journey of Alang was started from the Somalian coast in May 2026, and then she undertook nearly 6,000 km of nonstop flight across the Arabian Sea toward the Indian mainland. Experts regard this nonstop flight from the African coast to the Indian mainland as one of the longest over-ocean journeys undertaken by a small raptor.
The falcon was tagged by the scientists of the Wildlife Institute of India in Manipur, India, and continuously tracked in its movement using satellite telemetry. The satellite telemetry provides real-time information about migration routes, flight speed, resting places, and survival challenges.
Monitoring of Alang is part of the Manipur Amur Falcon Tracking Project—Phase II, a joint research project between the Wildlife Institute of India and the Manipur Forest Department, supported by the Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change. The same team is also monitoring two other tagged falcons, Apapang and Ahu, in addition to Alang. Apapang completed a 4,750 km non-stop flight from Somalia to central India in about 95 hours.
How Scientists Are Following Her
This incredible journey of Alang is not monitored by binoculars or field observers, but it is monitored using one of the most advanced scientific techniques, which is used to monitor long-distance migration. This technique involves fitting a tiny satellite transmitter that provides real-time location, speed, and other parameters via satellite.
This project, led by the Wildlife Institute of India and the Manipur forest department, is part of the second phase of the Amur Falcon tracking project. Two other falcons, Ahu and Apanag, were also tagged to monitor and collect large amounts of data for better results to understand bird migration.
The lightweight transmitter attached to the bird sends location signals to the satellites on regular intervals. These signals help the researchers to map the exact route of the bird, altitude, flight speed, and stopover locations across continents. For researchers and scientists, every signal from the transmitter is crucial data to analyze the migration path, stopover place, and duration of stopovers. After the project, the scientists will be able to draw the exact path of bird migration.
Survival Against the Odds
Migration is vital to migratory birds, but it’s also the hardest time of their lives. In certain birds with shorter lifespans, they complete migration only once in their lifetime. They migrate to discover more favorable weather and abundant resources. To migrate for a long distance, these birds wait for a favorable wind, like the Somali jet in the case of the Amur falcon. The “Somali jet” refers to a powerful, seasonal low-level atmospheric wind that flows along the Horn of Africa.
Amur falcons use this jet to cross the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean. Once they reach mainland India, they take the stopover in the northeast of India, especially Nagaland and Manipur, feasting on locusts and termites, which coincides with their migration. Their stopover in India is for around 2 to 3 weeks, after which they continue their onward journey to Siberia and Northern China. The bird undertakes one of the longest trans-hemispheric migrations in the animal kingdom, spanning around 22,000 km annually.
Before migration they feed heavily to store many fats in their bodies, which work as fuel; this fuel helps them to fly continuously over the ocean without any stopover. During the sea crossing, there are no landing spots, no hunting opportunities, and no second chances.
A Conservation Success Story
During the stopover in northeast India while coming back from Siberia and Northern China, these birds arrive in hundreds of thousands, and this arrival marks an event. In the wildlife tourism calendar, the arrival of Amur falcons is one of the most publicized events of India. Birdwatchers and nature lovers from all over the world gather to see the arrival of the Amur falcon in Nagaland.
This conservation event is possible only because some conservation organizations and the forest department have saved this bird from large-scale hunting by the local community. Earlier the local villagers used to hunt down the Amur falcon for bush meat in large numbers, but awareness drives by the conservation organizations and forest department helped to save this species of falcons.
The local communities are now getting support from ecotourism. The previous hunters of the Amur falcon have dropped their weapons and are now working to save this species. Many of these ex-hunters are now birding guides for tourists arriving in Nagaland. This community conservation effort not only helps with the conservation of falcons but also helps to raise awareness.
Why This Migration Matters
Migratory birds are ambassadors of conservation because their population status is not dependent upon the conservation efforts of one country or continent, but their conservation is a shared responsibility of all the countries and continents where they stop or spend summers or winters.
Countries working towards the common goal of conservation have to come together to protect the migratory species through international cooperation. International conflict like war threatens the migratory species, like the Amur falcon. Apart from human conflict, their migratory routes are threatened by climate change and habitat loss.
Every signal sent from Alang’s tiny transmitter to the satellite and received by us shows us that the survival of migratory birds depends on landscapes, people, and conservation efforts spread across the planet.
“A bird small enough to fit in your hand is teaching the world about endurance, navigation, and survival.”
Learn more about Alang’s journey. Please give a read to our another trending blog about India’s Top 10 Melodious Birds
