Both falcons in northern Ethiopia

About a week ago, Ivato left what seemed to be his breeding location in Eritrea and headed south.  At the same time 130393 was steadily heading north through Ethiopia.  Surprisingly, these activities resulted in the two birds being only about 75 km apart on 29 May.  At that time they were both in northern Ethiopia, just inside the border south of the Tekese River.  We speculate that the reason these birds are here is because of abundant prey.  The juvenile, 130393, seems to be moving slowly through the area and it must be foraging while doing so.  Ivato may have rushed to his breeding area only to find that prey there was scarce.  The location of sooty falcon nests seems driven by the abundance of prey in autumn when they have chicks, but in most of these places prey levels are likely much lower in May - July. This, of course, is speculation on our part.

Locations of two sooty falcons fitted with PTT transmitters. 130393 is a juvenile reared in Oman.  135213 is an adult captured on its non-breeding grounds in Madagascar.

Surprises

Nous avons pensé que l’individu Ivato (135213), un adulte du Faucon concolore s’est déjà installé dans son territoire de reproduction en Erythrée. Pourtant, ce n’est pas le cas. Il y a quelques jours, cet individu s’est déplacé à environ 300 Km au Sud d’Ethopie, puis s’est dirigé vers la partie nord-ouest. Le 27 Mai, il s’est localisé tout près de la ville de Debark, nord d’Ethiopie. Il est actuellement à peu près à 90 km (SE) du point où on a récemment localisé l’individu juvénile capturé à Oman l’année dernière (130393) qui prend lentement la direction Nord.

Surprises

Well, we thought that Ivato, the adult sooty falcon had settled onto its breeding territory in Eritrea.  However, a few days ago he moved about 300 km south to inland Ethiopia, then headed NW.  By 27 May he was located in northern Ethiopia, near the town of Debark, and now only about 90 km away (SE) of the location of the juvenile marked by us in Oman last year (130393), which is slowly making its way north.  See the map below.

Locations of Ivato (right) and 130393 (left) on 27 May 2014.

Latest News

130393 is still in Ethiopia, but just barely and is currently very close to the border with Sudan (about half way between Addis Ababa and Khartoum).  130393 has been making slow but steady progress north.  Its still not clear what this bird will do this summer.  We'll just have to wait and see.  In the map below you can see its movements, and its location relative to that of Ivato, the adult we caught in Madagascar in February.

Locations of Ivato and 130393

Ivato continues to be found on the northern-most islands of the Dhalak Archipelago in Eritrea.  Although location estimates by the satellites are not always absolutely accurate.  The map below suggests that Ivato has been visiting a number of islands.

Ivato's movements in the 20 days up to 22 May 2014.

Omani juvenile in Ethiopia

130393, the bird marked as a nestling in Oman in 2013, is steadily making its way north.  It crossed into Ethiopia on the 12th, and is currently in western Ethiopia about 100 km NW of the town of Jimma, and about 300 km west of Addis Ababa.

130393's movements in the 20 days up to 18 May 2014.

130393's movements since entering Ethiopia.

Sooty falcons on World Migratory Bird Day 2014

May 10 - 11 are World Migratory Bird Day 2014.  So, it seems appropriate that we post something about the sooty falcons.  Ivato seems really to have settled on a small Eritrean Island in the Red Sea.

Ivato's movements in the last week.

130393, the chick from Oman, is still in northern Kenya, north of the town of Marsabit.

130393's movements during 9-10 May 2014

Early May 2014

Well, Ivato has now spent two transmission cycles (more that 4 days) on Romiya Islet, a small island (about 1.5 km x 1 km) in the Dahlak Archipelago in Eritrea. It seems this may be where he will breed, and is probably where he has bred ever since he started to breed.  We are trying to contact people in Eritirea who can give us more information about the area.  The Dahlak Archipelago is a known breeding area.  It is probably of global importance, but details about the number of falcons breeding there are not available.  If anyone knows anything about the area or Romiya, please leave a comment.

Ivato's movements during 20 April - 8 May 2014.

 The bird marked as a fledgling last October in Oman is still heading north, and is currently in northern Kenya, west of the town of Wajir and Habaswein. To get a feeling for the environment there it is good to know that "Habaswein" means "a lot of dust" in the local language.  Ivato was not far from this location back in early April 2014 (See earlier post).

130393's movements since reaching the African mainland

Big movements

Its been a big day for both of the birds we are tracking.  Ivato, an adult we marked in Madagascar in February 2014, moved north and was last located on Romiya Islet, the most northern island of those that make up the Dahlak Archipelago, in Eritrea.  Of course the Dahlak Archipelago is where sooty falcons breed.  We'll have to see if Ivato stays or moves away to other breeding areas.  Keep visiting the blog to find out what happens!

Ivato's movements between 14 April and 3 May 2014.

Ivato's last locations on Romiya Islet, Dahlak Archepelago, Eritrea, 3 May 2014.

The bird we marked as a nestling in Oman. 130393 also made a big move today, crossing the Mozambique Channel and heading north.. It was last located near the village of Coroma, about 6 km inland from the coast.

130393's movements during 14 April-3 May 2014.

Sooty falcons move north...finally!

About a month ago Ivato made his big push north to the horn of Africa.  For the last month he has been moving within a relatively narrow band around 4 degrees N, mostly in western Somalia. At times he moved so little that we feared he had died.  However, on 29 April Ivato headed north and on 1 May was about 460 km north in SE Ethiopia south of the city of Jijinga.

Ivato's movements during 22 April - 1 May 2014.

The bird we marked as a juvenile in Oman in 2013 seemed also to hear the call for migration at the same time as Ivato did.  On 29 April it started moving north, and currently (1 May) is on the Madagascar west coast about 100 km north of Morondava.  Like Ivato, this bird's movements over the past month have been in a limited area, but in its case it was in southern Madagascar, almost 3000 km south of Ivato's location.

130393's movements during 15 April - 1 May 2014.