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A mother Chinese crested tern bears her egg. The species, considered to be close to extinction worldwide, was found on an uninhibited island in southern Korea early in April this year.

Endangered varieties of birds and other creatures are being found one after another across remote spots in southern Korea, and one of the rarest birds in the world, the Chinese crested tern, is among them.

Chinese crested terns, Thalasseus bernsteini, are one of the rarest birds in the world and their numbers are thought to be less than 100 specimens worldwide. The International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) categorizes this type of animal as being “critically endangered” and on the organization’s Red List. The birds are often described as mystical, as not much information on the species is known, except the fact that they were found in China, Taiwan and the Philippines in the 1930s, and on Taiwan’s Matsu Islands in 2000.

However, now five mother Chinese crested terns have been found in the southern seas of Korea. Researchers at the National Institute of Ecology, part of the Ministry of Environment, discovered the birds on an uninhibited island in Jeollanam-do Province and captured on film a pair laying eggs.

Now that the remote island has been officially recognized as the Chinese crested tern’s fourth habitat — along with the Jiushan Islands of Zhejiang Province in China, at Wuzhishan on Hainan Island in China, and on the Matsu Islands in Taiwan’s streamlined Fujian Province — the Korean ministry is considering to designate the island as a special region and to designate the birds themselves as endangered species, the ministry said.

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Endangered birds like a fairy pitta (top) and a ruddy kingfisher resting on a tree branch have been found in Korea’s Hallyeohaesang National Park. This is the first time that ruddy kingfishers have been spotted in Korea.

Endangered migratory birds like a fairy pitta and the ruddy kingfisher have also been found in Korea’s southern Hallyeohaesang National Park. The birds breed in summertime in southern Korea, and this is the first time that breeding ruddy kingfishers have been found in the region.

Ruddy kingfishers, summer migratory birds, have a long and red beak. They’re often considered as a measure for a healthy forest, as they are only found in forests and valleys deep inside mountain ranges. Their habitats are found across the southeast coast of China, in Taiwan, Japan, and, of course, now in southern Korea.

Fairy pittas, whose feathers have a rare color combination from blue to red, are another migratory bird species that needs protection from the IUCN. They travel to southern Korea every summer, at least since 2012, and the number of specimens spotted in Korea is steadily growing, from 12 in 2012 to 20 last year.

Korea’s southern coast and the Hallyeohaesang National Park are under strict management, which is part of the reason why migratory birds travel here to breed in the summertime, the Korea National Park explained. As a wider range of species are being found in the national park, the Hallyeohaesang office said that it would expand its designations of special protection zones inside the park, and strengthen management so as to preserve the summer habitats for the birds.

Finally, further inland along the estuary of the Seomjingang River that flows into the southern seas, other endangered birds, like eastern curlews and eagles, have been found. Especially in regions where fresh water and sea water meet, a unique ecosystem can develop that supports a broad range of fish including big-scaled redfins, flathead grey mullets and three-spined sticklebacks, making a good habitat for many bird species.

By Chang Iou-chung
Korea.net Staff Writer
Photos: Ministry of Environment
icchang@korea.kr