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Site description (2004 baseline):

Habang or Umwang is a relatively remote area in Assam’s Karbi Anglong district. The area comprises of a few villages inhabited by Khasi tribe with some Nepali-speaking people. A few hutments of the Karbi tribe also exist. The terrain is rolling country on a plateau. The Umkhen or Borpani river passes though the south of this IBA, beyond which is the state of Meghalaya.

AVIFAUNA: Habang is significant because it is the site of a major congregation of the migrating Amur Falcon Falco amurensis. This raptor migrates from northeastern China and southeastern Siberia to southern Africa through northeast India (Ali and Ripley 1987), and it congregates in large numbers for night roosting at Habang (Choudhury 2000). While its abundance is not known, at least 3,000 were found roosting on a single day in late October 2000. Sometimes, there are more than 5,000 individuals. The birds move through the area for about a month. Hence, it is possible that more than 90,000 birds pass through the area and roost en route. This is one of the few sites that qualify A4ii criteria (= 1% of the global population of congregatory terrestrial species: BirdLife International, undated) The Mountain Bamboo Partridge Bambusicola fytchii has been recorded. There is very interesting report of a remnant population of peafowl, probably the globally threatened Green Peafowl Pavo muticus, however, this needs confirmation (A. U. Choudhury pers. comm. 2003).

OTHER KEY FAUNA: The Hoolock Gibbon Hylobates hoolock occurs in the nearby forests (A. U. Choudhury pers. comm. 2003).

MAIN THREATS: Live capture for food and sale; Insurgency.

The main issue is the capture of Amur Falcons by the Khasis as well as the Nepalese. Every year, in October-November, the villagers capture the roosting birds, by sitting on a specially made machan erected on stands of bamboo. While many birds are eaten in the villages, some are taken to urban areas such as Shillong for sale. The local Forest Department and The Rhino Foundation for Nature in North East India jointly undertook the first awareness drive. Subsequently, this practice of annual capture has been reduced drastically. Interestingly, no one in the villages, including school teachers and headmen, were aware of the name of the species or its long-distance migration (A. U. Choudhury pers. comm. 2003).

Key contributors: Anwaruddin Choudhury and Amol Sharma.

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Habang (India). Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/habang-iba-india on 23/11/2024.