The Korea Forest Service’s Warm-temperate Research Center has unveiled results of its ten-year study on fairy pittas which are small passerine birds that are vulnerable to extinction and are designated as the Korean Natural Monument number 204.

 
Since 2003, the research center studied the breeding of fairy pittas on Jeju Island, the area considered to be the biggest breeding ground in the nation for the birds.

 
The center found that some 120 fairy pittas, which are also known as eight-colored birds, come to Jeju around mid-May and begin laying eggs around early June before leaving their nests around mid-August.

 
The center also found that on average, one fairy pitta lays around four-and-a-half eggs at once with the breeding success rate standing at only 42 percent, far lower than the 70 percent rate posted by other migratory birds.

 
The center also discovered that a baby bird spends 26 days with its mother from the day it hatches to the day it leaves the nest.