The Avifauna of the Lake Yeongam region and the Surrounding Reclaimed Arable Land

Abstract

This study was conducted seasonally between May and December of 2009 on the avifauna of the Lake Yeongnam (Yeongamho), Jeollanam-do region and the surrounding reclaimed arable land area. The study observed a total of 167,675 birds of 98 species, 29 families and 13 orders. The most dominant species was the baikal teal (Anas Formosa) at 150,000 counts (89.46%), followed by, in decreasing order, the bean goose (Anser fabalis) at 3,175 counts (1.89%) and the mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) at 1,869 counts (1.11%). In terms of the individual seasons, winter showed the highest species and individual bird counts among all four seasons at 104,710 birds of 59 species. A total of 14 government protected bird species, including the Chinese egret, bean goose, baikal teal, cinereous vulture, hen harrier, sparrow hawk, northern goshawk, common buzzard, rough-legged buzzard, imperial eagle, peregrine falcon, common kestrel, merlin and the long-billed ring plover, were observed during the study.