Breeding Ground of Grey Herons in Nowon-ri, Jincheon

The grey heron is the largest of Korea's heron and egret family (Ardeidae). It is a summer visitor that breeds throughout the country, though some individuals overwinter as residents in the southern regions and on the islands. It lives in paddy fields, streams, and tidal flats, feeding on frogs, fish, and snakes. Until 1970, the breeding ground at Nowon-ri, Jincheon supported several hundred herons and egrets nesting mainly around a gingko tree within the protected area of Nowon-ri. However, this gingko tree is now withering and dying from the birds' droppings, and only five or six nests of great egrets remain there, while the grey herons and other egrets have moved into the surrounding woods. At the Jincheon breeding ground, water pollution has reduced the frogs, loaches, and other prey on which grey herons feed, causing their numbers to decline. Nevertheless, because it remains representative of grey heron breeding grounds in Korea, it has been designated and protected as a Natural Monument.

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Where it is

Region

Jincheon, Chungbuk

Designation

Natural Monument · 천연기념물