The Amur Falcon

Wildebeest and their sizable support crews, made up of zebra and various antelope, aren’t the only creatures to migrate each year.

This falcon may be small but it is one of the most well travelled, covering the longest distance by any migratory bird. It would need a passport with many available pages for all the borders it crosses in a year. But that’s where things get a little mysterious...

The Amur Falcon takes its name from its Asian breeding grounds around the Amur River. They usually arrive in South Africa for Summer and then return to the Far East after the last of the rains in March, however their return flight has long puzzled scientists as they seem to disappear along the way. One theory is that they journey across the Indian Ocean.

The incredible thing about animals that migrate is that they appear to have an internal compass that can chart the earth's magnetic field. They also appear to be able to navigate using the sun by day and the stars by night. This enables them to pinpoint, with an astounding degree of accuracy, how to get to a chosen destination - to the point where some migrants inhabit the same nests year in and year out.

Isn’t Nature just utterly spellbinding? ??