Vaibla Bird Obseravtory

History

Founded in 1987, Vaibla Bird Observatory is the only inland bird station in Estonia at the present time. It is run entirely by volunteers organized as a non-profit organization.

In 2017 station celebrated its 30th anniversary with an educational conference. Every autumn groups of pupils visit the Observatory and get the opportunity to see and release birds. Older students stay at the Observatory as interns or gather data for their school research paper. Sharing knowledge and educating people in biology has always been the major goal for the team.

Practising under supervision of experienced ringers has brought a lot of students closer to science and nature and often leading to career in research and environment protection. Along with popularization, Observatory participates in international projects and contributes scientific data to researchers.

Activities

Visitors and volunteers participate in everyday activities and thus develop their practical skills. Program includes:

• introduction to Estonian birds, 

• basics of ringing and mistnetting, 

• identification and measuring practice,

• safety of birds.

Ringing/banding at Vaibla

• 24 seasons (1987-2023).

• Main ringing season in July and August, occasional sessions in autumn and spring.

• 171 000 ringed birds (see totals and current year results).

• 125 bird species (see the list in the table of totals).

• More than a 100 foreign recaptures (see the map)

• Up to 200 meters of mist-nets

TOP-12

Barn swallow      38000

Sedge warbler     33000

Willow warbler    12000

Chiffchaff         9200

Reed warbler       8400

Marsh warbler      7200

Blue tit           6500

Great tit          4700

Garden warbler     4600

Whitethroat        4300

European robin     4200

Eurasian blackcap  3500