Intro – New Site – Angola 2024

FALCOPOLIS

THE LARGEST RAPTOR ROOST ON PLANET EARTH

A small group of ornithologists from Europe set out to find the wintering area of the Red-footed Falcon.

This small bird of prey is highly social all year-round, forming nesting colonies and also gathering in communal roosts at night during migration and wintering.

Using satellite tracking devices mounted on birds, researchers followed the falcons’ incredible journey to Africa. Red-footed Falcons spend the winter in various parts of the Okavango Basin, but interestingly enough, the falcons moved to Central Angola every March.

In 2019, the scientific team visited Huambo province in Angola, where they discovered one huge roost site, the capital of the Red-footed falcons.

The discovery was nothing short of extraordinary.

The place was named FALCOPOLIS.

Each evening the sky above the roost site is fully covered by falcons, surpassing previous estimates of the species’ global population

Data showed that all Red-footed Falcons, regardless of gender or origin, visit this remarkable place. They are even joined by individuals of a distant relative, the Amur falcon, which breeds in Far East Asia and migrates to Africa through India.

Based on our knowledge, no other species of birds of prey physically meet in such large numbers during the wintering period. This unique natural phenomenon raises a number of intriguing questions, but to find the answers, researchers have had to plunge into the middle of the falcon flocks.

Why is FALCOPOLIS so important?

Swarming termites, abundant in central Angola at this time of the year, provide important food for falcons during the winter. Packed with protein, these insects are easy to catch in flight, and are vital for the falcons, helping them build up the fat reserves needed for their northward migration.