Bird of prey in flight from below - Help ID please (1 Viewer)

[rssandeep]

Took this shot from a peak called Etthina Bhuja (Alt 1300 mtrs) in central part of Karnataka (near Sakaleshpura town). Can you please help ID this one? Thanks in advance!

 

[Stonefaction]

I'd say a young Amur Falcon from this year, but that is based on it resembling a young Red Footed Falcon I saw once in 2015, though I think the dark trailing edge favours Amur Falcon. Hopefully someone with more experience of the pair will be able to say what it is, with certainty.

 

[Andy Adcock]

Large numbers winter in Africa and occur in Northern India en-route, presumably, travelling down the land mass on the opposite side of the Arabian Sea to which this bird is, so far South on the sub-continent might be a bit unusual?

 

[Stonefaction]

https://www.conservationindia.org/articles/tracking-the-incredible-journey-of-the-amur-falcon

Looks like Amur Falcons do actually cross the sea, Andy - "they undertake the longest regular overwater migration of any bird of prey, crossing over the Indian Ocean between western India and tropical east Africa, a journey of more than 4,000 km, which includes nocturnal flight".

 

[Vyomkesh]

Amur Falcon! The species which we look out for here! Red-footed is well out of range.

so far South on the sub-continent might be a bit unusual

No, many records further south too!

 

[Andy Adcock]

https://www.conservationindia.org/articles/tracking-the-incredible-journey-of-the-amur-falcon

Looks like Amur Falcons do actually cross the sea, Andy - "they undertake the longest regular overwater migration of any bird of prey, crossing over the Indian Ocean between western India and tropical east Africa, a journey of more than 4,000 km, which includes nocturnal flight".

Very interesting, I'd assumed they hopped over much further North and crossed from Pakistan and down through East Africa.

 

[MacNara]

Hi rssandeep, please be nice and include the country (and region in a large country like India) in the title so that people who have no local knowledge don't need to open the thread, but people who have such knowledge will be encouraged to open the thread and help.

 

[Muppit17]

Very interesting, I'd assumed they hopped over much further North and crossed from Pakistan and down through East Africa.

There is a satellite tracking project that has been used to show the track. See image.
Pretty scarce in the whole of Arabia

 

[Andy Adcock]

There is a satellite tracking project that has been used to show the track. See image.
Pretty scarce in the whole of Arabia

Those top lines are exactly what I expected.

 

[MJB]

Those top lines are exactly what I expected.

These represent the return migration.

The outward migration across the Indian Ocean (first documented in Moreau 1938) is due to the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone positioned such that it sets up layers of the atmosphere that flow in different directions, the route-level across the Indian Ocean largely featuring steady WSW winds that dragonfly species take advantage of, which allows Amur Falcon and several other bird species including cuckoos to feed on during direct migration to eastern Africa: Anderson 2009, Dixon et al 2011. The dragonflies breed in eastern Africa and it's the next generation that sets off almost entirely on the land-based route to India, where they breed, the ITCZ being weaker and not providing steady winds so often. Thus it's the third generation that undertakes the direct route to Africa, a clear example of endogenous control of the migratory impulse.
MJB
Anderson, RC. 2009. Do dragonflies migrate across the western Indian Ocean? J. Trop. Ecol. 25: 347-358
Dixon, A, B Nyambayar and P-O Gankhuyag. 2011. Autumn migration of an Amur Falcon Falco amurensis from Mongolia to the Indian Ocean tracked by satellite. Forktail 27: 86-89
Moreau, RE. 1938. Bird migration over the Indian Ocean, Red Sea and Mediterranean. Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. Ser A. 1938: 1-26

 

[antbird53]

the route-level across the Indian Ocean largely featuring steady WSW winds

I would have thought WSW was the wrong direction? The Forktail article you refer to notes that "It is possible that Amur Falcons can feed on migratory dragonflies that also fly across the Indian Ocean from India to East Africa, possibly using north-easterly tailwinds within and behind the Intertropical Convergence Zone, at altitudes over 1000m"

 

[Butty]

I would have thought WSW was the wrong direction?

That old confusion re. naming a wind on the basis of where it's come from (which, AFAIK, is always the accepted convention) or where it's going to (which is, thus, wrong).

 

[MJB]

That old confusion re. naming a wind on the basis of where it's come from (which, AFAIK, is always the accepted convention) or where it's going to (which is, thus, wrong).

Thanks, Butty. I should have said winds to the WSW!
MJB