Meet the Amur Falcon, March’s Raptor of the Month
This is our second Raptor of the Month selection, after Johann chose the African Fish Eagle as his February favourite.
Our second Raptor of the Month and Johann van den Berg’s choice for March is the Amur Falcon, a migratory raptor that only weighs about the same as a Cape Turtle Dove.
Johann van den Berg is a photographer and monitor for the Black Eagle Project Roodekrans, the entity responsible for the conservation of the habitat of the Black Eagles which reside in the Walter Sisulu National Botanical Garden. Johann described the Amur Falcon as follows:
“The migratory Amur Falcon, weighing in at about 136 grams, approximately the same weight as a Cape Turtle Dove, visits us during the summer months. Hundreds of them can be seen perched on overhead fibre cables, (no more telephone lines), or on farm fences.
“They feed on flying insects, which are caught in flight, or grasshoppers on the ground. They are gregarious and will roost by the hundreds in a tree, usually Eucalyptus. They are on the wing at first light, spending the rest of the day fattening up for the most extraordinary migratory flight to their breeding ground in eastern Asia at the end of our summer.
“They are the most documented and flight-tracked raptors visiting South Africa, and the distances covered by them are truly astounding. Over 3 000 kilometres over the Indian Ocean is just part of their more than 10 000 kilometre migratory track.
“Next time you see an Amur Falcon sitting on a farm fence, admire what that small raptor has achieved by travelling all that way to give us the pleasure of admiring such a beautiful small raptor. “
