Heuksando and Hongdo islands on the Yellow Sea are located on the shortest route for migratory birds which travel across Southeast and Northeast Asia. These islands serve as resting and refueling stopovers for the birds tired of their long journey.

In this regard, Heuksando and Hongdo islands are important stopover habitats for migratory birds and good places for migratory bird research.

Because birds migrate across borders, one nation alone can't conserve migratory birds. Therefore, international cooperation network which consists of migratory bird research is engaged in migratory bird conservation.

To stay in step with the international conservation effort, the National Park Nigratory Birds Center was established in July, 2005.

The research center is located on Heuksando island, with a smaller annex on hongdo island, in Jeonnam province, and the islands serve as stopover site for 70% of the total migratory bird species recorded in Korea.

The National Park Migratory Birds Center is aimed at top-notch migratory bird research specialist and is committed to promoting symbiotic coexistence between human being and bird species.

Why do we research on migratory birds?

• To evaluate ecosystem health: Migratory birds are ecosystem health indicators because of their sensitivity to habitat changes.
• To formulate migratory bird conservation plans.
• To monitor and to prevent the spread of zoonotic diseases such as avian influenza.

Our work

Research on migration routes of birds
To reveal ecological and evolutionary mechanisms of bird migratio based on bird banding and satellite tracking.
Ecological study on endangered bird species
To build database to restore the endangered migratory bird species.
Monitoring on infectious avian diseases
To prevent the spread of zoonotic diseases by investigating traces of the infectious avian diseases.
Monitoring and improving habitats for migratory birds
To be commited to conserving and recovering migratory bird habitat.
Collection of feature data of migratory birds
To build feature database on the species such as morphological characteristics, molting strategies and others.
Interpretive & educational programs
To increase public awareness on importance of conserving migratory birds and their habitats.