Bird Numbers 2025 – an unforgettable event

The 23rd conference of the European Bird Census Council (EBCC), called “Bird Numbers 2025: Synergies in monitoring for conservation”, took place from 31 March to 4 April 2025 in Riga, Latvia. The University of Latvia organised the conference with support from the Latvian Ornithological Society.

In total, 280 researchers and conservationists from 44 countries engaged in bird monitoring, research, and conservation in Europe and beyond, attended the event.

The programme included five plenaries, 82 presentations, 77 poster contributions, four in-conference workshops, and two post-conference workshops related to EBCC projects, the Ornitho platform, or the International Waterbird Census.

Besides the scientific programme, the participants also enjoyed birdwatching during the four field excursions, including Ķemeri National Park, the third largest national park in Latvia, known for the unique Ķemeri bog; Gauja National Park, the oldest and largest national park in Latvia, characterised by great biodiversity, diverse landforms, and scenic views; Lake Engure nature park at the coast of the Gulf of Riga; and an eutrophic freshwater coastal lake Babīte.

We all enjoyed a fantastic conference dinner on Thursday evening with a traditional national dance performance and a charity auction.

The compilation of abstracts can be downloaded from the conference homepage. Articles for the Proceedings of the conference will be published in the Experimental and Environmental Biology journal.

We thank the University of Latvia and the Latvian Ornithological Society, particularly the team led by Oskars Keišs and Ainārs Auniņš, for all their efforts organising such an unforgettable event.

Thank you all for joining us in Riga, and see you in 2028!

You may also visit FB https://www.facebook.com/EuropeanBirdCensusCouncil

We asked the participants for their feedback. Below, you can read about their experience. Thanks for sharing it!

Several hundred bird enthusiasts from many European countries and nearby continents gathered at the intersection of the North and the East — in the Latvian capital, Riga, on the shores of the Baltic Sea’s namesake gulf. From the very first day, everyone was ready to talk about nature, even without exciting plenary lectures or oral presentations. However, the perfectly coordinated oral presentations of the latest research and long-term monitoring projects further encouraged many discussions, questions, and ideas (and still do), making the coffee breaks feel far too short. The mid-conference excursion offered a chance to get acquainted primarily with Latvia’s nature and provided just enough of a recharge for another full day in the auditorium. Yet, the practical topics on the last day were easy to follow even with only 30% energy left. The perfectly aligned schedule of presentations, plenary sessions, and breaks was reminiscent of aligning field days with weather conditions and resting in the office during a hectic field season. That the organizers are highly skilled in planning and coordination is confirmed not only by the success of the conference but also by the extensive fieldwork and scientific output they’ve achieved.

Nikola Veljković,

PhD student, University of Novi Sad, Serbia

Super conference, excellent organisation, perfect timekeeping. Nice people, lots of stimulating information. Excellent cuisine—small space (for me). Nice program for dinner, and beautiful weather for the excursion. What more could you ask for?

Soňa Nuhlíčková

Breeding Bird Survey coordinator, Comenius University, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Bratislava, Slovakia

Thanks for the very good organisation of the conference! It was packed with interesting topics, not just regarding plenaries and talks, but also with regard to the high quality posters presented. I wish the poster session had been longer!

Apart from that, the excursions seemed all very well-organized and showed a high dedication of our hosts to provide the best venues and experiences.

The only thing that I consider suboptimal was the vegetarian food, which was clearly not at the level of earlier conferences. But leaving that aside, I think all was fine. Thanks a lot to you and the organisation team!

Sven Trautmann,

Breeding Bird Survey coordinator, DDA – Dachverband Deutscher Avifaunisten, Münster, Germany

Another excellent conference held by the EBCC! I am back home and still inspired by the plenary talks, the short talks and the posters. It was also a great opportunity to share experiences with many colleagues and friends. I am already looking forward to the next conference.

Norbert Teufelbauer,

Breeding Bird Survey coordinator, BirdLife Austria, Wien, Austria

I really enjoyed the conference, it was a great pleasure for me to meet in person several people I only knew through email.

I was a bit frustrated by the fact that there were two parallel sessions, but I don’t see how it could be done differently.

One suggestion: it would be interesting to assess the carbon footprint of such events by asking each participant to indicate the means of transport used and the distance travelled to get to the conference.

Benoît Fontaine

Breeding Bird Survey coordinator, CESCO, Paris, France

A well-attended and very enjoyable conference thanks to the hosts, who gave it a special touch. The scientific program was well-chosen and interesting. The occasional lack of food is forgiven.

Virginia Escandell González,

Breeding Bird Survey coordinator, Sociedad Española de Ornitología (SEO/BirdLife), Madrid, Spain

I was thoroughly impressed with every aspect of the conference. There was a good balance between talks (all of which were of a very good standard) and time to connect with delegates. The excursions were fantastic, and the host organisers should be very proud.

The only critique I would make is that the poster sessions might have lasted longer and/or there be an option for these to happen over an evening as well as during the day (rather than workshops every evening). In past conferences, drinks and snacks have been made available whilst people mingle with posters and this was a great and informal way to learn, meet and talk. 

James Heywood,

Breeding Bird Survey coordinator, BTO, Thetford, UK

I think Oskars (Keišs) was absolutely great, both as the plenary speaker and a conferencer. A big applause for him! The conference venue was great, as were the helpers at the information desk. They repeatedly (!) made sure that the things I forgot were well taken care of and safely returned to me.

Åke Lindström,

Breeding Bird Survey coordinator, Dept. of Biology, University of Lund, Sweden

The 23rd EBCC Conference in Riga was the very first conference I’ve ever attended, and it would be hard to look for a better start. I was impressed by the combination of a friendly, welcoming atmosphere and a scientific focus. The range of presentations and posters was huge, and learning about projects from so many countries helped me understand just how crucial the role of ornithological societies across Europe is. Seeing so many enthusiastic people in one place, all working on the same goal, was very inspiring. And an excursion with a bit of Latvian nature was just a cherry on top.

Filip Tuháček,

Citizen-science project coordinator, Czech Society for Ornithology, Prague, Czechia