First report of Amur Falcon, Falco amurensis Radde, 1863 from Chhattisgarh, India

ABSTRACT Of the 69 species of raptors known from India, Amur Falcon (Falco amurensis) was one of the least talked about species till recently. Primarily recorded from northeast India, with a few scattered sight records in peninsular India, the species is generally considered rare. All that changed following a report by Conservation India in October 2012 of the massive large scale harvest of these falcons in Nagaland. Researchers estimated that between 120,000 and 140,000 individuals were being trapped and killed for human consumption in just one location in Nagaland at the Doyang roost site in Wokha district each year (Dalvi et. al. 2013). Key words: Amur falcon, Bastar Plateau, Rajnagar tank, Oligotrophic, Chhattisgarh REFERENCES Ali, S. and Ripley, S.D. (1987). Compact Edition of the Handbook of the Birds of India and Pakistan. Oxford University Press, New Delhi. Bildstein, K.L. (2006). Migrating raptors of the world: their ecology & conservation. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, New York. 336 pp. Bird Life International (2016). Species factsheet: Falco amurensis. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 21/06/2016. Champion, H. G. & Seth, S. K. (1968). Revised survey of the forest type of India. Natraj Publication, New Delhi. 404 pp. Chandra, K., Dutta SK., Gupta RP. & Raha, A. (2015). Diversity and conservational status of avifauna in Bastar plateau of Chhattisgarh, India. Ambient Science, 02(1): 31-43. Dalvi, S., Sreenivasan, R. and Price, T. (2013). Exploitation in Northeast India. Science 339 (6117): 270–270. D’Cunha,E.P.E.& Ali,R.(2001).Additional list of the birds of Kanha National park, Madhya Pradesh. J. Bombay nat.Hist. Soc.98 (2):283-287. Dutta,S.K., (2015a). First report of Rufous bellied Eagle, Hieraaetus kienerii (E.Geoffroy,1835) from Chhattisgarh, India. Biolife, 3(2), pp561-563. Dutta, S.K., (2015b).First report of Raorchestes sanctisilvaticus (Das and Chanda, 1997) sacred grove bush frog from Chhattisgarh, Biolife, 3(3),pp 735-738. Dutta, S. K., (2016). Sighting of Spot-billed Pelican Pelecanus philippensis in Bastar Plateau, Chhattisgarh, India. Indian BIRDS 11 (4): 100. Grimmett, R., Inskipp, C. & Inskipp, T. (2011). Birds of the Indian Subcontinent, Christopher Helm, London, 1-528 pp. Nair,M.V.(1994).Sighting of Red-legged Falcon at Aakkulum,Kerala, Newsletter for Birdwatchers 34(2):32-33. Naoroji, R. (2011) Birds of Prey of the Indian Subcontinent. Om Books International, New Delhi.ISBN:978-8-1871-9.1-692pp. R. Suresh Kumar. (2015). Tracking the Incredible Journey of the Amur Falcon http://www.conservationindia.org/articles/tracking-the-incredible-journey-of-the-amur-falcon, Accessed on 01-06-2016. Rodgers, W. A., Panwar, H. S. & Mathur, V. B. (2002). Wildlife and protected areas network in India. A review (Executive Summary). Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun. 44 pp