The three birds that are still transmitting are still milling around, and have not pushed farther south. 130393 and 130394 are in South Sudan, and 130397 is in northeastern Ethiopia, on the Eritrean border.
 |
| Movements of sooty falcons during the 10 days before 1 December, 2013 |
130393 is located near the town of Wau.
 |
| The town of Wau, South Sudan. |
 |
| The habitat around Malakal, near where 130394 has been located. |
130397 is located in the mountains east of Adrigat, on the border with Eritrea. Adigrat is the second largest city in Ethiopia’s northernmost region, Tigray, with a population of around 130,000. Tigray is one of the most rural regions in Ethiopia, with just over 80% of the population residing in rural areas. The farmers mainly grow wheat, barley and teff, whilst they also look after cows, sheep and goats.
 |
| Adrigat, Ethiopia from the nearby mountains. |
Looking at what Sheba did in 2010, the stay in South Sudan, seems to be following a similar pattern. If this two youngsters (393 and 394) are going to do the same, they will soon start moving SSE hopefully being luckier that the one who was shot in DRC. Let's keep our fingers crossed!
ReplyDeleteI guess they are just opportunistically hunting in areas that have plenty of food, so little motivation to move. As far as I remember termites aren't usually swarming until the beginning of the wet season, which I think is March or so in South Sudan. I guess also that relatively speaking, the habitat over which they passed from Oman to South Sudan was relatively devoid of food. Who knows, maybe they are feeding on songbirds.
ReplyDeleteFrom the literature birds are a much rarer prey outside the breeding season.Most of the authors hardly mention birds.The only two records of bird preys during migration (i.e. in Africa) are from Tregenza 1951 (in Williams 1991) of a Sandgrouse and Brown (in Moreau 1969) mentioning Quelea sp. Rands 1936 in Madagascar mentions Foudia sp.
DeleteThe literature on non-breeding grounds is limited, especially, as you point out, related to the time on migration. There may also be an observational bias... falcons hawking insects might be easier to see than falcons hunting birds... Other migratory falcons of which I am aware are opportunists (with some constraints), especially so for juvenile birds. Migrating peregrines feed upon the birds that migrate at the same time they do, and when they enter a habitat in the south that holds migrant prey species from the north, they feed upon them.
DeleteI completely agree on the lack of proper observation about the feeding of the Sooties outside the breeding period and in particular during migration. Indeed it would be strange for a juvenile, raised on birds, not to keep eating them it as long as it is rewarding / cost-effective. Hunger is a great teacher :)
ReplyDelete