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| In this 2020 July file photo, National Institute of Ecology researchers release into the wild black-faced spoonbills they raised. Courtesy of the National Institute of Ecology |
By Ko Dong-hwan
A black-faced spoonbill ― an endangered species of bird ― that was saved and raised by humans until being released into the wild at its birthplace in Korea has made a migratory return after almost a year. Experts said it has provided them with a valuable case to study further how to conserve the species.
Officials from the Ministry of Environment said on Friday that it is the first case ever where a black-faced spoonbill has returned after being raised in captivity and released into the wild. The birds were last updated on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Red List in 2017 as "endangered." In Korea, the birds are classified as a first-class endangered species, which is the class in the most imminent threat of extinction.
Research of the ministry's National Institute of Ecology (NIE) said that they saw that the bird had arrived in southern coastal Goheung County of South Jeolla Province on May 22. The officials could track it because it was fitted with a solar-powered tracking device (weighing less than two percent of the bird's weight) before being released on July 1, 2020. The officials had also attached two types of identification tags on each of its legs, which coded the bird as "Y21."
Y21, after arriving in Goheung, moved northwest to a mudflat in Yeonggwang County of the same province's west coast, then to Chilsan Island in waters off the county. It then flew to another coastal region, Boryeong County in South Chungcheong Province, where it has been tracked to have stayed as of Friday.
Y21, after being released into the wild, stayed in Korea until Nov. 3, 2020, when it left the country flying southwest and arrived in a bay in the city of Ningbo in China's Zhejiang Province the next day. It spent the winter there. On April 24 of the following year, it moved to another bay north and spent 28 days there. On May 21, it left the bay and travelled about 800 kilometers east and arrived in Goheung the following day.
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| A black-faced spoonbill, identified by researchers as Y21, at a mudflat in Ganghwa County, Incheon, after being released from captivity by the National Institute of Ecology researchers, with a tracking device on its back and identification tags on both of its legs / Courtesy of the National Institute of Ecology |
NIE researchers have found that Y21, since arriving in Goheung, has been staying close to four other birds of its kind, as well as a Eurasian spoonbill. The Eurasian spoonbill is categorized in Korea as a second-class endangered species.
"It is a valuable discovery as we have been striving to conserve endangered species that are indigenous to the East Asian region," said Park Yong-mok, the president of the NIE. "To protect the species' habitats and wintering grounds across the East Asian region, we will continue working together with China, Taiwan and Japan, where the species usually stays for wintering."
As of 2020, about 90 percent of the entire population of black-faced spoonbills in the world ― 1,548 pairs ― mated on Korea's western coast. The summer-migratory birds never leave the East Asian region, according to the ministry.
Y21 was among five youngsters that were raised by the NIE researchers. Four of them were hatched from 10 eggs the researchers had saved from Incheon's Ganghwa County on the country's west coast in May 2019. The eggs were in danger of being swept away by a high tide. The other bird was saved as a chick from a west coastal mudflat on Incheon's Songdo Island in August 2019.
The researchers had trained them to adapt to their natural habitat for about a year, after which they released them into the wild. When released, all of them had identification tags affixed (Y21-25), while three of them (Y21-23) were affixed with a tracking device.
Y22 and Y23 didn't leave Korea for wintering like Y21 and died during the last winter of 2020, according to the researchers. Y24's last location was confirmed last March as Lake Tai near Suzhou city in Jiangsu Province. The researchers said they have not been able to track Y25 and are unaware of its whereabouts.
