Key Information: Baikal Teal Sibirionetta formosa 가창오리

Dr Nial Moores, Nationwide Director, Birds Korea, January twenty eighth 2025

Media studies determine the chook species concerned within the lethal Muan air-crash within the southwest of the Republic of Korea on December 29^th 2024 as Baikal Teal Sibirionetta formosa 가창오리, with blood and feathers present in each engines.  It subsequently seems that the aircraft collided with a flock of this species. This put up goals to offer some fundamental info on Baikal Teal, to assist media and airport investigators (and decision-makers) to interpret this info.

The Baikal Teal (scientific identify Sibirionetta formosa, previously Anas formosa) is a reasonably small species of duck, with a complete size of 39-43 cm (Carboneras & Kirwin 2020) and a mass of 402-505 g (Moores in Kear 2005).

Breeding in Russia, the Baikal Teal is well-known for forming spectacular, densely-packed single-species concentrations in wintering areas within the Republic of Korea (ROK), and to a lesser extent in Japan and PR China. These wintering areas are occupied between October / November and March.

Some Baikal Teal flocks in December and January comprise a number of hundred thousand people, comprising a lot of the world inhabitants, presently estimated at 500,000-700,000 people (Wetlands Worldwide 2025).

As soon as a species of pure, in depth floodplain habitats, these days the primary habitat in winter of Baikal Teal is giant lakes surrounded by rice-fields as are usually present in large-scale reclamation areas (i.e., areas transformed from pure wetland to synthetic wetland and land by means of mechanical means). It’s because Baikal Teal feed largely on spilt rice-grains in rice-fields (picked up by birds strolling, “grazing”), and like to roost in dense flocks out on open, non-flowing water, at a secure distance from predators.

As soon as in such habitat, the Baikal Teal:

“Roosts in dense, successfully single-species concentrations throughout day and flies in shorebird-like clouds to feed on spilt rice and grain in late night and night time (Allport et al. 1991). Night flights typically contain elaborate “aerial ballet” with swirling flocks…Though flock normally leaves roost as a single unit, this breaks into smaller teams quickly. Many return to daytime roost earlier than first gentle; virtually all earlier than dawn…When roosting largely inactive till mid-afternoon, until disturbed” (Moores in Kear 2005).

As Baikal Teal roost throughout the day essential questions for folks investigating this accident embrace:

• Why was this flock of Baikal Teal flying excessive sufficient to collide with this plane on strategy greater than an hour after dawn?

• The place had been they roosting? 

• And in consideration of steerage offered by the Worldwide Civilian Aviation Organisation, if roosting inside 8km or 13km of the airport, was the Wildlife Hazard Administration Program ample?

Within the ROK, habitat utilized by Baikal Teal could be very typically shared with Larger White-fronted Geese Anser albifrons 쇠기러기 and Tundra Bean Geese Anser serrirostris 큰기러기. Due to their flocking behaviour, these species additionally probably pose a excessive chook strike danger at airports in-built areas near reclamation lakes and rice-fields, as in Muan (and as proposed on Baengnyeong Island, in Hwaseong, in Seosan and at Saemangeum).

The winter chook census, performed below the auspices of the Nationwide Institute of Organic Assets inside the Nationwide Ministry of Atmosphere, covers roughly 200 of the extra essential recognized waterbird websites within the ROK.

In January 2024 (the newest Winter Census information which can be obtainable), no Baikal Teal had been recorded utilizing the Muan Reservoir. Nevertheless, there have been 1,157 Bean Geese and 412 Larger White-fronted Geese in and across the reservoir (NIBR 2024).

As well as, in January 2021, 35,000 Baikal Teal had been recorded by the winter census alongside the Muan-Mokpo coast, to the south of the Muan Worldwide airport (i.e., on the flight strategy of plane touchdown on “Runway 1”) (NIBR 2018-2023).

The winter census will not be performed with sufficient frequency to construct a sturdy understanding of waterbird utilization at every web site; or of actions between them. Furthermore, in winter, the Baikal Teal is basically “nomadic” (Moores in Kear 2005). Along with spreading out as much as 30km every night time (Tajiri et al. 2014), Baikal Teal typically transfer a lot bigger distances in response to e.g., the freezing over of lakes that they roost on, or snow cowl which prevents them from feeding.  In consequence, numbers fluctuate virtually each day even at often-preferred websites, just like the decrease Geum River (Yu et al. 2014) close to the proposed Saemangeum New Airport.

Will increase in Waterbirds imply rising Chook Strike Threat?

Some supplies printed by the Worldwide Civilian Aviation Organisation, often repeated within the ROK, counsel that chook strike is rising all over the world and within the ROK due to the rising success of conservation measures for waterbirds. Though this is likely to be true of some elements of the world, information from the winter census don’t lend robust assist to this assertion within the ROK (Desk 1), particularly when potential biases within the information are thought-about (e.g., rising expertise of observers; higher tools; and elevated variety of websites in contrast with earlier years).

Desk 1. Counts of birds made throughout 5 current winters of the Nationwide Chook Census, with counts of chosen waterbird species thought-about by Birds Korea to pose the very best chook strike danger to plane in winter months.

It’s true that the Baikal Teal is far more quite a few now than 50 years in the past, when the species was threatened with extinction on account of e.g., habitat loss after which over-hunting. Nevertheless, the height variety of Baikal Teal recorded throughout the winter census reached over one million in January 2009, however has remained under 600,000 in all winters since 2011.

The latest printed nationwide winter census counts had been 335,610 and 362,531 in December 2023 and January 2024 respectively (NIBR 2024), with the latter depend representing 24.1% of all birds recorded that census.  Based mostly on these information, the Baikal Teal stays the most typical duck species in winter within the ROK and the most typical chook recorded throughout the census.

The variety of chook strike incidents within the ROK is subsequently not rising due to an rising variety of waterbirds. It’s rising due to the rising variety of flights. And it’s affordable to claim that the very best danger of chook strike in winter is prone to be at airports the place the biggest numbers of waterbirds are recognized to pay attention.

A evaluation of aviation security within the ROK subsequently wants to incorporate a way more critical consideration of the chook strike danger. In flip, this requires a full reassessment of a number of proposed airports in reclamation areas and close to wetlands (e.g., on Baaengnyeong Island, in Hwaseong, in Seosan, in Saemangeum, in Busan and on Jeju) in addition to at Muan.

Please additionally see:

“Security First? Constructing Airports in Wetlands and subsequent to Migratory Bottlenecks” (January sixth 2025)

“Winter Chook Census Counts inside 13km of Muan Worldwide Airport” (December thirtieth 2024)

“A World Perspective: Why is the excessive danger of chook strike on the proposed Gadeokdo airport nonetheless being neglected?” (August 2024)

“Current Cancellation of a Proposed New Worldwide Airport subsequent to an estuary in Portugal: one thing for us to be taught from!” (June 2024)

“Proposed air base relocation to the Hwaseong Wetlands could be ecologically disastrous” (August 2022)

References

Carboneras, C. and G. M. Kirwan. 2020. Baikal Teal (Sibirionetta formosa), model 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.baitea.01

Moores, N. 1996. The Baikal Teal in South Korea. Hong Kong Chook Report 1995:231-35. Printed in 1996.

Moores, N. 2005. Baikal Teal. (pp. 605-608 in Keir [ed.] Geese, Geese and Swans. Quantity 2, printed by Oxford College Press.

Nationwide Institute of Organic Assets (NIBR). 2018-2023. Nationwide Winter Census, performed below the auspices of the Ministry of Atmosphere. NIBR, Incheon, Republic of Korea.  (in Korean: 겨울철 조류 동시 센서스 2008-2023. 국립생물자원관: 대한민국 인천.). Accessed by means of database constructed by Andreas Kim at: https://www.andreas-kim.de/MoE/MoE-Winterbird-Censuses-Species-V2.html

NIBR. 2024. 2023-2024 Winter Waterbird Census of Korea. Performed below the auspices of the Ministry of Atmosphere. NIBR, Incheon, Republic of Korea.  Accesed in January 2025 at: https://species.nibr.go.kr/board/viewPost.do?boardNo=249&artNo=35942&vmode=V

Tajiri H., Sakurai Y., Tagome Okay et al. 2014. Satellite tv for pc telemetry monitoring of Baikal Teals (Anas formosa) in annual migration wintering in Katano-Kamoike, Central Japan. Pages 311- 316.  In Proceedings of the Worldwide Convention on Distribution, Migration and Different Actions of Wildlife, Vladivostok, 25–27 November 2014.

Wetlands Worldwide. 2025. Waterbirds Populations Portal. Accessed in January 2025 at: https://wpe.wetlands.org/

Yu J-P., Han S-W., Paik I-H. et al. 2014. Standing of wintering populations of the baikal teal (Anas formosa) in Geumgang River, Korea. Journal of Asia-Pacific Biodiversity. Vol 7., Subject 2, Pages e213-e217. (at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2287884X14000211)