Seabirds

Many bird species on islands and coasts of the sea are not found inland, such as the common eider and the oystercatcher. Some of them get food directly from the sea, others find food from the coast. Most seabirds feed on fish. Gulls and cormorants have adapted to catch fish from the high seas, and terns and goosanders feed more commonly near the coast. Ducks feed on invertebrates living in the sea, and woodcocks search for food on the shoreline. Some birds of prey feed on seabirds and fish. Several other seabirds nesting on the coast can also be found on lakes: swans, geese, and ducks.

The common gull can be seen everywhere by the sea. They are also common inland and in larger cities. Common gulls are very resourceful in choosing a nesting site: they can nest on small islands, rocks protruding from the sea, and even on coastal trees and the roofs of houses.

The fish-eating diving duck, the goosander, is a common bird on the Baltic Sea coast, but they can also be found in inland waters. They have a long beak with a sharp saw-like edge, and a hook at the tip, which is good for catching fish. Goosanders usually nest in tree cavities or caves between rocks. Some coastal people put nest boxes up for the goosanders and, in return, took some eggs from the nest of the birds that started laying eggs. After a while, the nest was left alone, and the goosander could finish laying eggs and hatching them without being disturbed.

The oystercatcher is easy to distinguish from other waders that nest on the coast: they have a long bright red beak, and red legs. They can be seen wading in shallow water with their long legs. From there, they look for molluscs and other invertebrates. They are also looking for them on the beach.

In the appearance of the black-feathered great cormorants, there is something similar to the prehistoric flying lizards. These birds were nearly all killed in several Baltic countries during the 19th century, and they did not return to nesting on the small Baltic Sea islands until a few decades ago. Today, there are already thousands of them again, and they have spread elsewhere. Cormorants are good divers, they often catch fish together.

Although they mainly eat smaller fish (eg three-spined stickleback, roach, and Baltic herring), they also catch young salmon, which fishers find valuable. In cormorant nesting colonies, the ground is completely covered with their calcium rich faeces and not a single blade of grass grows there.

Many birds that nest in the tundra and along the coast of the Arctic Ocean also migrate along the Baltic Sea coast. Some of them stop in the Baltic Sea countries. Bird enthusiasts observe the flocks, sometimes with binoculars.