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Year of most recent IBA criteria assessment: 2000

Populations of IBA trigger species

Species	Current IUCN Red List Category	Season	Year(s) of estimate	Population at site	IBA criteria triggered
Mute Swan Cygnus olor	LC	passage	1999	500-2,000 individuals	B1i
Whooper Swan Cygnus cygnus	LC	passage	1999	500-5,700 individuals	A4i, B1i
Tundra Swan Cygnus columbianus	LC	passage	1999	3,000-13,500 individuals	A4i, B1i
Barnacle Goose Branta leucopsis	LC	passage	1999	20,000-32,000 individuals	A4i, B1i
Barnacle Goose Branta leucopsis	LC	breeding	1996	20 breeding pairs	B3
Greylag Goose Anser anser	LC	passage	1999	5,000-11,000 individuals	A4i, B1i
Greylag Goose Anser anser	LC	breeding	1996	1-420 breeding pairs	B1i
Greater White-fronted Goose Anser albifrons	LC	passage	1999	1,000-3,300 individuals	B1i
Long-tailed Duck Clangula hyemalis	VU	passage	1996	250,000-1,600,000 individuals	A4i, B1i
Common Scoter Melanitta nigra	LC	passage	1996	200,000 individuals	A4i, B1i
White-winged Scoter Melanitta deglandi	LC	passage	1996	350,000-400,000 individuals	A4i, B1i
Common Goldeneye Bucephala clangula	LC	passage	1999	10,000-30,000 individuals	A4i, B1i
Common Goldeneye Bucephala clangula	LC	non-breeding	1999	11,500 individuals	A4i, B1i
Smew Mergellus albellus	LC	passage	1999	300-1,000 individuals	B1i
Goosander Mergus merganser	LC	passage	1995	1-5,000 individuals	A4i, B1i
Common Pochard Aythya ferina	VU	non-breeding	1999	3,000-32,000 individuals	A4i, B1i
Tufted Duck Aythya fuligula	LC	passage	1998	10,000-35,000 individuals	A4i, B1i
Greater Scaup Aythya marila	LC	passage	1999	10,000-40,000 individuals	A4i, B1i
Garganey Spatula querquedula	LC	breeding	1999	250-300 breeding pairs	B2
Northern Shoveler Spatula clypeata	LC	passage	1999	1,000 individuals	B1i
Gadwall Mareca strepera	LC	passage	1999	1-370 individuals	B1i
Eurasian Wigeon Mareca penelope	LC	passage	1999	18,000-36,000 individuals	A4i, B1i
Northern Pintail Anas acuta	LC	passage	1999	800-10,000 individuals	B1i
Common Teal Anas crecca	LC	passage	1998	1,000-4,000 individuals	B1i
Corncrake Crex crex	LC	breeding	1999	260-320 breeding pairs	A1, A4i, B1i
Spotted Crake Porzana porzana	LC	breeding	1999	85 breeding pairs	B3
Common Coot Fulica atra	LC	passage	1999	10,000-20,000 individuals	B1i
Common Crane Grus grus	LC	passage	1996	15,000-20,000 individuals	A4i, B1i
Eurasian Bittern Botaurus stellaris	LC	breeding	1996	20 breeding pairs	B2
Great Cormorant Phalacrocorax carbo	LC	breeding	1999	1-3,000 breeding pairs	A4i, B1i
Great Cormorant Phalacrocorax carbo	LC	passage	2000	10,000-15,000 individuals	A4i, B1i
Grey Plover Pluvialis squatarola	LC	passage	1999	1-2,000 individuals	A4i, B1i
Common Ringed Plover Charadrius hiaticula	LC	passage	1996	3,000 individuals	A4i, B1i
Black-tailed Godwit Limosa limosa	NT	breeding	1996	1-150 breeding pairs	B2
Dunlin Calidris alpina	LC	breeding	1999	100 breeding pairs	B2
Great Snipe Gallinago media	NT	breeding	1999	35-50 breeding pairs	A1
Common Redshank Tringa totanus	LC	breeding	1999	1-650 breeding pairs	B2
Common Redshank Tringa totanus	LC	passage	1999	2,000 individuals	B1i
Mew Gull Larus canus	LC	breeding	1999	600-650 breeding pairs	B2
Great Black-backed Gull Larus marinus	LC	breeding	1999	400-450 breeding pairs	B3
Little Tern Sternula albifrons	LC	breeding	1999	60-100 breeding pairs	B2
Caspian Tern Hydroprogne caspia	LC	breeding	1999	140 breeding pairs	B2
A4iii Species group - waterbirds	n/a	non-breeding	1999	14,000-44,000 individuals	A4iii
A4iii Species group - waterbirds	n/a	passage	1999	370,000-1,900,000 individuals	A4iii

Note: The current IUCN Red List category may differ from the category that was valid at the time of IBA criteria assessment.

For more information about the IBA criteria, please click here

Protected area (PA)	PA designation	PA area (ha)	Relationship of PA with IBA	Overlap of PA with IBA (ha)
Matsalu rahvuspark	Rahvuspark	48,860	protected area contained by site	48,600
Matsalu Nature Reserve	Ramsar Site, Wetland of International Importance	48,610	protected area contained by site	48,640

IUCN Habitat	Habitat detail	Extent (% of site)
Forest	Mixed woodland	-
Grassland	Humid grasslands	-
Marine Intertidal		-
Artificial/Terrestrial	Highly improved re-seeded landscapes, Arable land	-
Marine Coastal/Supratidal		-
Marine Neritic		-

For further information about the IUCN habitat classification, please click here.

Land-use	Extent (% of site)
agriculture	-
fisheries/aquaculture	-
forestry	-
nature conservation and research	-

For further information about the land-use classification, please click here.

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2023) Important Bird Area factsheet: Matsalu Bay. Downloaded from http://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/261 on 10/06/2023.