Dr Nial Moores, National Director, Birds Korea
A warm spring welcome to all of our members and supporters!
Back in February, we posted a public update of our work which identified our five main, overlapping priorities for 2026: (1) Continue conservation activities in internationally important bird habitats close to the border with DPR Korea; (2) Continue support for eBird and for the EAAFP’s Scaly-sided Merganser Task Force; (3) Make progress with our wetland restoration project in Busan as part of a wider strategy for promoting conservation of Eastern Taiga Bean Goose 큰부리큰기러기 and the lower Nakdong River floodplain; (4) Continue clarifying issues relevant to several proposed airports; and (5) Continue development of a new online space.
Here follows an update, following several months of remarkable progress – only made possible by the dedication of fellow Birds Koreans and the support of many wonderful volunteers.
Inner Border
Work continues especially in Yeoncheon County (Gyeonggi Province) and on Baengnyeong Island (Incheon).
In Yeoncheon, work is being led by Birds Korea Imjin-Hantan Representative Baek Seung-Kwang and Birds Korea Yeoncheon, with Representative Kim Hee-Song. Research this year has included regular counts of wintering cranes; counts every 3-4 days through the northward migration period of Scaly-sided Mergansers 호사비오리 , supported by a small grant from the EAAFP; and under a contract for the monitoring of biodiversity from Yeoncheon County, further survey of Long-billed Plovers 흰목물떼새 and additional species along four rivers in the Yeoncheon Imjin River Biosphere Reserve.
Our research in 2026 has already found several additional bird species for the “Yeoncheon List” (Japanese Quail 메추라기, Black-winged Stilt 장다리물떼새, Oriental Pratincole 제비물떼새, Taimyr / Lesser Black -backed Gull 검은등갈매기 and Siberian House Martin 흰턱제비); added the County’s second record of Demoiselle Crane 쇠재두루미; and revealed that numbers of Scaly-sided Merganser 호사비오리 (peak count of 47 in March) and Long-billed Plovers 흰목물떼새 (c. 44, with several nests and four chicks observed between April 20th and 23rd) have remained broadly similar between years. However, both species are becoming increasingly concentrated into fewer and fewer river stretches, coincident with a continued increase in disturbance.
Additional highlights from Yeoncheon this year also include regular birdwatching events at Samicheon; and the publication of a truly wonderful account of nesting Barn Swallows by Ms Lee Suyoung, now available to read for free on kindle or to purchase online.
On Baengnyeong Island, the site of one of 10 or more proposed airports, Incheon KFEM and CORI (Climate Ocean Research Institute: https://cori.re.kr/en/?page_id=78) organized an excellent seminar on April 28th which was attended by ten people from multiple environmental organisations and two islanders.
The seminar included input from the islanders; and contained presentations from island-resident Ms Park Cheong Woon of Green Korea Incheon on the conservation of Spotted Seals; Dr Choi Hyun-Ah of the Hanns Seidel Foundation, Korea (and also a lifetime member of Birds Korea), who focused on Green Détente and the need for linking conservation actions at local, national, regional and global scales; and the National Director of Birds Korea, Dr Nial Moores, who highlighted Baengnyeong Island’s exceptional importance for the research and conservation of Korea’s birds. Research confirms that the island supports three species of waterbird in Ramsar-defined internationally important concentrations; and at least 29 globally threatened and ~49 nationally threatened bird species have been recorded on the island since 2013 (with ten of these breeding). The island is also remarkable for large movements of diurnal migrants, including a day last year with more than 35,000 Brambling 되새 and 1,200Oriental Turtle Dove 멧비둘기 and a high diversity of raptors during migration, with e.g., a peak day count of 1,000 Crested Honey Buzzard 벌매. Survey on the island has also produced numerous national record day-counts, including 104 globally Endangered Oriental Stork 황새 (recorded by Green Korea United’s Park Cheong Woon) and 460 Critically Endangered Yellow-breasted Bunting 검은머리촉새 in the last couple of years.
This spring fieldwork continues of course, with Baengnyeong Island’s bird list started in 2013 now standing at 401, thanks to the addition of Oriental Plover 큰물떼새 found this spring by Ms Park Cheong Woon. Several Birds Korea members and other birders will visit the island in May…
Eastern Taiga Bean Goose 큰부리큰기러기 and the Lower Nakdong River
Kindly supported by SER and Microsoft, and conducted under our MOU with the Busan Nakdong River Projects Management Office, Birds Korea has been leading a collaborative project to convert a rice-field in Maekdo Ecopark into a floodplain-type wetland with a self-sustaining native plant community that can be used by foraging Eastern Taiga Bean Goose 큰부리큰기러기 and other floodplain wetland species.
After a hugely complicated administrative process, and thanks to the hard work of Land Aura and the Nakdong Estuary Eco-centre, permission was finally approved at the end of March to excavate and reprofile the field so that target wetland plants can be supported.
A team, led by Professor Byun Chaeho, then divided the field up into quadrats to facilitate monitoring of the project’s success.
Two volunteer events for seeding and planting the project site were also organised by Professor Byun, supported by Microsoft, the Gangseo Gu District Office, the Nakdong Estuary Eco-centre and Mr Kim Eojin, famous as the wholly independent 새덕후 Korean Birder (happily also a Birds Korea member!).
Nine volunteers from Microsoft worked at the site on April 10th; and on April 11th, 95 volunteers joined, most recruited through the Gangseo Gu office and by Mr Kim Eojin. In addition, on both dates, staff from the Ganseo-Gu Office and the Nakdong Estuary Eco-centre were also present to support the volunteers: our sincere thanks to everyone involved!
Thanks to these wonderful volunteers, who stayed remarkably positive and enthusiastic in spite of very difficult and muddy conditions, under the supervision of Professor Byun and his team, “7,200 seed flats containing the seed flats of 6 wetland plants (Sorbaria sorbifolia, Beckmannia syzigachne, Bromus japonicus, Lythrum salicaria, Echinochloa crus-galli and Zizania latifolia) and 3,250 pots containing roost of six wetland plants (Bolboschoenus maritimus, Zizania latifolia, Schoenoplectus tabernaemontani, Acorus calamus, Nymphoides peltata and Iris setosa)“ were placed in 1.2ha of the field (Prof. Byun, Kakao text message, April 15th).
Monthly surveys of birds will continue from May; and a site visit is planned in mid-June to assess the success of the seeding and planting.
Monitoring of birds and restored vegetation will then continue for the next two years (if you are interested in volunteering for these surveys, please contact Birds Korea); and a Youtube video will be released, probably toward the end of the year.
In addition to the volunteer activities, thanks to the coordinating efforts of Dr Kim Su-Kyung (one of Birds Korea’s original co-founders) and the generosity of the Nakdong Estuary Eco-centre, we were also able to hold a meeting there on April 10th to discuss the possibility of starting a specialized network to initiate simultaneous survey of the Eastern Taiga Bean Goose next winter, with this count effort including the project site and the remainder of Maekdo, the Nakdong Estuary, Samnak and Daejo Eco-parks, Hwapocheon, Junam and perhaps Upo. Such research is needed, in order to develop a more robust population estimate of the species to use as a baseline for assessing the impact of conservation initiatives – such as this project.
Further discussion on this proposed network will take place on July 4th at a meeting of the Rice-field Network at Hwapocheon.
At the very end of April, we also learned that our proposed 2026 project at the adjacent Samnak and Daejo Eco-parks has been approved by Microsoft. Our thanks to them, once more. This project will focus on awareness-raising, education, capacity-building and research at these two sites in Busan, which also hold internationally important concentrations of Eastern Taiga Bean Goose 큰부리큰기러기. Part of this project proposal also calls for simultaneous surveys of this species.
Airports
Birds Korea continues to provide evidence-based information on the potentially high bird strike risk at several proposed new airports (especially Gadeokdo in Busan; in Saemangeum; in the Hwaseong Wetlands; and on Baengnyeong Island).
This includes through direct communication with media; and in presentations in Hwaseong on January 29th and on Baengnyeong Island on April 28th.
Research will also continue at Maekdo and Samnak, and now at Daejo too, on recording the flight direction and approximate height of geese and other waterbirds in relation to the flight paths of aircraft flying into Gimhae International Airport. To date, we have not found any evidence to suggest that geese and swans in these ecoparks pose a high bird strike risk to aircraft; although it is possible that flocks of Great Cormorants 민물가마우지 flying from the estuary to the Nakdong River might sometimes pose a potential risk.
Following the terrible crash at Muan in December 2024, the ROK has been developing new measures which aim to reduce the bird strike risk. New measures are needed, and of course should be in full accordance with expert guidance provided by the International Civilian Aviation Organisation (ICAO) in their formal publications.
This means that at some existing airports, measures might need to be taken to reduce the attractiveness of habitats directly under the low-altitude flight paths of aircraft, while maintaining habitats and their biodiversity near to existing airports outside of flight paths – because the two main pillars of ICAO’s work are aviation safety and environmental sustainability. This also means, of course, that new airports should not be built “adjacent to wildlife reserves, lakes, rivers and coastal areas” (ICAO, 1987). As clarified by ICAO, “Bird hazards at proposed new airports can be minimized by careful selection of the site to avoid established bird migration routes and areas naturally attractive to birds” , (ICAO 2002 Section 2.5.8). Contrary to this guidance, the proposed Baengneyong, Hwaseong, Saemangeum and Gadeokdo airports would all be built in “areas naturally attractive to birds”; the proposed airports at Baengnyeong, Hwaseong, Saemangeum would all be built adjacent to lakes in coastal areas; the proposed airports at Hwaseong, Saemangeum and at Gadeokdo would all be within 6-7km of nationally protected bird habitats, and the one on Baengnyeong within 3km of a protected breeding colony of Black-tailed Gulls 괭이갈매기, holding close to 20,000 individuals; and the airports on Baengnyeong Island and at Gadeokdo would both be on established bird migration routes.
We therefore continue to welcome all and every opportunity to communicate directly with relevant government bodies, decision-makers and airline representatives, in order to share our research data and concerns.
Our New Online Home – and eBird
Like everything, the way that people experience birds and the environment is changing. Back when we started Birds Korea and our two archived websites (birdskorea.org and birdskorea.or.kr), there were very few birdwatchers in Korea and information on birds and their habitats was hard to access and share. Now, hotspots and bird records are easy to find through eBird; probably every bird photographer has their own social media page or website; and many people are getting interested in birds through apps like Merlin, especially after Birds Korea led translation of it into Korean.
This all means that our blog is no longer fit for purpose. We are therefore doing what we can to respond. Led by Ms Angela Choi (Choi Su-Yeon), work has been going on for more than a year already to build an entirely new platform, intentionally designed to improve communication between and with our members and to make better use of our engagement with eBird. Progress on this has been boosted this year by a very productive three-month collaboration with Team Kkachi 까치 – a group of six Master’s students from the European School of Management and Technology (ESMT Berlin) who volunteered to support Birds Korea as part of their course work. In the past few weeks, five years of blog posts have been migrated to the new platform, which we aim to open in August; and we now have a much clearer understanding of how we can use the data being generated by eBird to support our conservation mission. Our sincere thanks go once more to ESMT Berlin and Team 까치, including the three team members who visited Korea to learn more about our organization.
Again, our sincere thanks to everyone who works for, supports and volunteers for Birds Korea. Together, let us all work for a much better, more biodiverse and sustainable future!
