Ecotourism
Estonia

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Birds were probably the first creatures to arrive in Estonia after the last glacial period. Since then, Estonia forms an important link in a migratory track of a variety of Arctic water birds flying every spring northwards to their nesting places and every autumn back to their southern wintering areas.  

Of the 333 recorded bird species, 222 breed in Estonia (206 regularly), 35 being transit migrants, 4 winter visitors and 72 vagrants.  

The majority of breeding bird species are migratory. Among the resident species which can survive the harsh winters, the capercaillie, black grouse, magpie, woodpeckers, tits, etc., are the most typical. The first migrating birds to arrive in March are the common starling, rook and northern lapwing; the last species, like reed warblers, do not reach Estonia before the second half of May.  

It is during the period from the end of April to the beginning of July that the bird life in Estonia is at its peak. By August the first breeding birds start the journey back to the South. The autumn migration lasts, however, for much longer; during the milder winters some species can leave Estonia as late as December. Or not leave at all, which is the case with a growing number of once migratory species, e.g. the blackbird or the mute swan.  

Forest species constitute about a half of Estonian birds. The richest in both the number of species and individuals are the broad-leaved deciduous and mixed forests, where the average density of breeding pairs varies from 550 to 1700 per sq. km. Forest birds are mainly passerines: finches, thrushes, warblers, robin, pipits, etc. Chaffinches and willow warblers are probably the most numerous birds in Estonia.  

In spite of being relatively poor environmentally, bogs form one of the most interesting habitats for birds. Among the birds which find the bogs congenial as nesting places are some relic tundra species as the European golden plover and the whimbrel. Unfortunately, many typical tundra species, like the willow grouse, the peregrine falcon and the black-throated diver, which were all characteristic exhibits of Estonian bog wildlife, have disappeared as nesting birds during the last decades.  

The indented seashore provides habitats for different groups of birds. Thus the waders make up more than half of the breeding birds of the salt marshes and coastal meadows. Another interesting community is the one amongst large reed plains on the western coast and islands where coots, bitterns, water rails, etc. are common.  

It is the small islets and skerries, however, that can be called bird paradise. Undisturbed by man and protected from most smaller predators by the sea, they are real nesting sanctuaries for a diversity of gulls, terns, ducks and waders.  

Due to the vast preserved natural landscapes, the swamplands in particular, large raptorial birds, such as the golden eagle, white-tailed eagle, osprey, spotted eagle and eagle owl have made Estonia their home. All together at least 400 pairs of eagles have been recorded. Another rare and very elusive bird species which inhabits the large forests is the black stork.  

Thanks to the protective measures for both birds and their habitats, several species in decline in Western Europe have increased in number in Estonia, e.g. the corncrake and the white stork whose nests on old chimney stacks and telegraph poles are an inseparable part of the Estonian landscape in the summer.

Source: Estonian Institute