The bird, a hoopoe, was seen at the Pulgoja birdwatching site, not the first time this species has been seen in Estonia, but colorful and rare enough to prompt comment.

Estonia is at the very northernmost edge of the hoopoe's range, the paper reported, and breeding pairs have dwindled almost to single figures since the start of the millennium – the bird is a summer visitor away from the heat of Spain, Portugal and North Africa, where it returns to as early as next month, and ahead of winter.

Europe-wide there are up to 2.7 million pairs (estimated), primarily in southern Europe where they are quite a common sight.

The Pulgoja facility's season has only just begun, though several migratory birds with foreign rings on their legs have already been encountered, some from nearby: two reed warblers and a barn swallow ringed in Latvia and a bearded reedling from Lithuania, and some from further afield, such as a yellowhammer ringed in the Czech Republic.

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