Korean Job Discussion Forums

[matthewwoodford]

I guess city people who don't get out much won't have noticed this but to anyone who's been out in the mountains or on trips to the country or perhaps lives in a small town - where are all the birds in Korea? In the cities you get the ubiquitous pigeons of course and you can see crows too. In Kyongju, I have to admit, I was impressed to see two cranes. But in most places, e.g. climbing Buchan-san, you see next to no birds. Coming from a country where I can see 6 different kinds of bird in my back garden before breakfast, and a coupla hundred other kinds of birds around the country in the fields, woods, hills, rivers, on the cliffs, estuaries, etc etc...well I find the lack of birds in Korea...disturbing.

Has anyone else noticed this? Have I just been going to the wrong places? I've been out and about in Kyonggido too and not noticed any birds (black squirrels though). Can anyone explain?

Matt

[Tiger Beer]

Well, between birds and rats.. I just don't know where they go.. there certainly are an enormous amount of humans around however..

[schwa]

Seoraksan much the same. I wonder if insect-poor soil is a factor. While a random handful of loam from a British Columbian forest floor teems with life, a handful here is just dead. There are interesting birds flitting around though, just not in any numbers.

Lots of shorebirds. Spring & summer rice paddies in the early dawn theres some dramatic specimens too. Urban areas there are good numbers of the usual suspects -- no songbirds or flashy colors but thats the world over.

Koreans generally dont notice or appreciate birds -- I think they regard them as big bugs.

[canuckistan]

When the rain that falls is pure acid, leaves and other detritus just don't decay like they should...no bugs, no birds, no alot of things.
The environment here is screwed from the ground up.

[peppermint]

I thought the air pollution was the main reason too, until I went to Beijing. Beijing has far worse air quality, but I was pleasantly surprised to wake to the sound of birds chirping.

[Ya-ta Boy]

I can think of two other contributing factors as well.

One is that the forests were almost completely destroyed at one point. Korea is now a leader in reforestation but the wildlife has never recovered.

A second factor is that birds are eaten. Have you ever seen the strings of roasted baby birds for sale at festivals? I think they are sparrows, but I'm not sure.

[desultude]

I hear birds all of the time. I see a lot of different kinds that I can't identify. Right now I have my door open and am listening to chirping aplenty from the stand of Bamboo about 50 yards away. In the spring and early summer I hear the KooKoo bird at night alot, and owls. I am no bird expert, to say the least, but right now I hear three or four distinct different kinds of birds chirping.

[erlyn]

When I was hiking Dobongsan, I saw a pigeon in the middle of the forest, almost near the summit. It completely freaked me out, as normally pigeons are usually seen in less, er, natural habitats. I guess the pickings were good up there, as hardly anyone seems to think twice about chucking their food garbage on the trail.

I want to know where the seagulls are - I live in Incheon, and you'd think the combination of seaside, plus plentiful garbage would be irresistable for these guys.

[Zed]

Where do you live Desultude? Country or city? I certainly have to agree with Matt and noticed this from the first spring I was here and seemingly no matter where I am -travelling to mountain areas, seashores, city parks.

While the hills don't seem to be alive with the sounds of birds I have seen some things that I'm not familiar with back home.
Cuckoo - heard it but didn't see it, once only.
Large Green Woodpecker a couple of times.
A flock of small woodpeckers or sapsuckers (8 or 9) - I've never seen birds of this family in flocks before.
What I believe to be Mourning Doves but much larger than the Ontario variety.
There does seem to be an abundance of cranes/herons which I don't see so much at home. Is there a large frog population here? I don't hear them but something must be supporting this large population of wading birds and I'd be surprised if there are enough fish in most of these places to do it.
Magpies are also common and, I think, a little larger than the ones I know from the Canadian prairie.

Waiting for Rapier's comments on this thread.

[desultude]

I live on the western edge of Daegu- in front it is still really really urban, behind is the beginning of the hills.

[rapier]

I've seen just over 150 different species here in Korea, in just over a year of casual birwatching. The total number of bird species ever recorded in korea through history now stands at about 465.
Sounds like a lot- but most of this number are rare or scarce, occasional visitors or vagrants. Few species actually reside year round and nest here in Korea.
Why? because of several reasons: the main one being that wild, natural habitats have been so altered and denuded by Korea's rapid development and industrialisation. The woodlands for example are relatively young, having been virtually cleared out during the Japanese occupation and wartime. A wood that is only 50 years old is immature, and it takes a fair bit longer for it to support a diversity of plants and insects, let alone birds.
The West coast estuaries and mudflats like at Saemangeum, Songdo or gangwha do support large numbers of birds- but so many wildlife rich areas have been ruined by land reclamation projects.
Freshwater wetlands like swamps or reedbeds have often been drained or turned into rice paddy, farmland. Rivers, streams, ponds and lakes have all been manicured and cemented. There are few wild and overgrown areas.
The widespread use of chemicals in agriculture has damaged the ecosystem, also the dense human population and disturbance by people.

Most birds seen in Korea are migratory- just passing through on their way to/from somewhere else, or staying for the winter before heading back to their breeding grounds.This is where korea becomes interesting from a birwatchers point of view. Korea is a peninsula that juts out the Asain mainland, thus it catches most birds migrating along the coast. They need Koreas estuaries, wetlands and flooded rice paddies to feed up for the rest of their journeys.
This is why it is vitally important to save estuaries like Saemangeum from Reclamation. To turn such a rich area into more unneeded rice fields is a criminal act that would result in the deaths of thousands of birds, and quite possibly the extinction of the spoon- billed sandpiper.

Check out this website: [url]wbkenglish.com[/url]

[rapier]

I should add that I enjoy some company on my birding trips from time to time- anyone keen on doing a Sundays birdwatching sometime, do PM me, I love showing people wild birds and sharing my limited knowledge! Saw thousands of geese and a sea eagle at the DMZ last weekend...

[JackSarang]

Well, down in Bundang you occasionally see wildlife down along the Tancheon river.

In the spring/summer you see tons of those korean magpies, not sure on their actual name, but they've got the pretty blue/white wings. You also see Cranes and Mallard Ducks bobbing around in the river.

I've seen a wild chipmunk (squirrel to Koreans) all of once in Central Park (Jung Ang Gong Won) but you hear them lots. They're just pretty shy. Not like those mangy black squirrels in High Park in Toronto who will steal a sandwich out of your hand.

[whatthefunk]

As rapier has noted, there are many different kinds of birds in the Pohang area. For moe information, please visit the Life in Pohang thread.

[Gord]