Bird year
Vantaa celebrates bird-theme year in 2022, during which special attention will be paid to many familiar bird species’ becoming endangered. The theme-year program consists of, among other things, bird trips and a photo competition.
Birds constitute a visible and audible part of our joint nature. You can observe birds almost everywhere. Nevertheless, the number of many bird species has dramatically dropped.
The number of bird species on Finland's red list of endangered species has grown from 72 at the turn of the millennium to as many as 121 species, which constitutes half of the birds nesting in Finland.
Many familiar and previously common species—such as sparrow, black-headed gull, and the forest crested and willow tits—nowadays belong to the group of endangered bird species. Even the magpie now belongs to the near-endangered group.
Birds becoming endangered is due to, among other things, the weakened status of watercourses, measures taken by agriculture and forestry, as well as climate change. One of the main reasons for the diminished number of birds is the drastic decrease in the number of insects in Europe. For instance, swallows that are dependent on insects are now endangered in Finland.
Theme year program
Bird photo competition “Autumn of Birds”
The City of Vantaa celebrates its bird year by launching a bird photo competition. A jury—consisting of City of Vantaa city planning director Tarja Laine, bird photographer Micha Fager, and bird expert Jouni Lamminmäki—will select the best photos.