Shinan 1004 Islands, Eight Endangered Bird Species Including First-Class White-Tailed Eagles Confirmed

Simultaneous Wintering Bird Census Conducted in Island Areas

Critically Endangered White-tailed Eagle (Photo by Sinan-gun)

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Seo Young-seo] Jeonnam Sinan-gun (Governor Park Woo-ryang) announced on the 6th that from December 20 to 27 last year, a simultaneous winter bird census was conducted in five areas including Gageodo, Manjaedo, Taedo, Heuksando, and Daedundo to identify the status of birds wintering in the island areas under its jurisdiction.

As a result of the simultaneous winter bird census in the island areas, a total of 58 species and 10,784 individuals were confirmed to be wintering, including eight species of endangered wildlife: first-class species such as the Peregrine Falcon and White-tailed Eagle, and second-class species such as the Whooper Swan, Greater White-fronted Goose, Black Kite, Eurasian Kestrel, Eurasian Sparrowhawk, and Northern Goshawk.

In particular, among the endangered birds observed this time, the Whooper Swan is a species that mainly winters in large wetlands such as Cheonsuman, Geumgang estuary, and Junam Reservoir, but was unusually observed in island areas more than 100 km away from the mainland.

The reason why various endangered species have come to the Sinan islands is judged to be the result of civil-government cooperative environmental conservation efforts so far.

The most dominant species confirmed in this survey was the Black-tailed Gull, with a total of 8,557 individuals, and it was confirmed that 8,000 individuals (79%) were wintering in large numbers only on Hataedo. The Black-tailed Gull is a representative summer migratory bird that breeds in colonies on uninhabited islands in Korea.

In addition, about 700 individuals of the Brown-eared Bulbul, known as a common resident bird, were also observed moving in flocks.

The simultaneous bird census is a survey that monitors wintering birds or major species simultaneously in various domestic migratory bird habitats to accurately grasp the number of individuals, mostly targeting major inland wetlands.

However, the simultaneous census promoted by Sinan-gun this time is the first case conducted targeting island areas far from the mainland.

The island areas under jurisdiction, such as Gageodo, Taedo, Manjaedo, and Heuksando, were known as major stopover sites for migratory birds moving in spring and autumn, but through this survey, it was additionally confirmed that they are important wintering areas for winter migratory birds.

A Sinan-gun official said, “We hold the ‘Biodiversity Management Contract Project’ and the ‘International Migratory Bird Symposium’ every year for the conservation of migratory birds and their habitats, and the ‘Simultaneous Winter Census in Island Areas’ promoted this time will also be conducted regularly every year, not just once,” adding, “We plan to continue to identify the status of wintering birds arriving in Sinan-gun in winter and do our best to conserve migratory bird habitats and biodiversity.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.