For years, scientists wondered where all these falcons went. Now they know
Red-footed falcons spend their summers scattered across thousands of miles of Europe and Asia before migrating roughly 6,000 miles to southern Africa. GPS trackers eventually pointed researchers toward one tiny, 1.5-square-mile area in central Angola — where, for about six weeks each year, enormous numbers of the birds gather together to roost. Researchers have nicknamed the place “Falcopolis.”
No one knows exactly how many falcons gather there, but researchers have witnessed hundreds of thousands filling the sky, and one scientist estimates he may have seen as many as 1 million. The birds also feast on seasonal termite swarms, gaining 20 to 30 percent of their body weight before beginning their journey back north. Now, conservationists are working with nearby communities to better understand and protect this extraordinary stop on the falcons’ migration.
This may be a bad thing for them to be this concentrated.
The sandpipers on the flats here are dependent on that pit stop to get to South America. If it changes they are in trouble.