Estonia's white-tailed eagle recovers from near-extinction to about 300 breeding pairs
Estonia's white-tailed eagle, on the verge of disappearing in the 1960s, now numbers 290–330 breeding pairs. Pesticide bans, legal protection and long-term monitoring made the recovery possible.
Over roughly half a century, the white-tailed eagle in Estonia has gone from near-total disappearance to about 300 breeding pairs. The recovery is regarded as one of Europe's most remarkable, yet little-known, conservation successes.
Why the bird almost vanished
The white-tailed eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla) is Estonia's largest bird of prey, with a wingspan of up to 2.45 metres and a weight of up to six kilograms. In the 19th century the species was fairly common, especially around Lake Peipus, and may have had several hundred breeding pairs.
From the late 19th century its fortunes turned. Eagles were hunted, their eggs were collected, and farmers worried about livestock laid poisoned bait. After the Second World War, DDT and other pesticides built up in the food chain, thinned eggshells and caused widespread breeding failure. By the 1960s the Estonian population had fallen almost to nothing, and for several years no successful nest was recorded.
The road back
Recovery began in the 1970s as bans on the most harmful pesticides gradually cleared toxins from the food chain. Ornithologists monitored known nests, guarded pairs during the vulnerable season and worked to change attitudes towards the bird. The Estonian Eagle Club, founded in 1999, studies the birds, monitors nesting sites and supports winter feeding.
Across the Baltic region, breeding pairs rose from about 670 in the 1990s to roughly 3,000 by 2012. In Estonia there were about 150 pairs by the mid-2000s, and there are between 290 and 330 today. Key breeding areas include Saaremaa, Hiiumaa, Vormsi and Muhu, along with Matsalu National Park and the Silma Nature Reserve. On Hiiumaa alone, at least 25 pairs nest regularly.
Effects on the ecosystem
Research published in 2025 found that the feeding areas of eagles and great cormorants in the Baltic Sea increasingly overlap. Eagles raid cormorant colonies, taking adults, eggs and chicks; on Hiiumaa as many as 26 eagles have been seen targeting one colony at once, and some colonies have relocated. Ecologists caution against treating this as a problem, since the return of an apex predator inevitably reshapes the surrounding community.
Still vulnerable
The species remains protected in Estonia. One of the main current threats is forestry, which removes the large, mature trees the birds use for nesting. Nest sites and their surroundings are protected by law.
