The Flói Nature Reserve () is a bird and nature reserve located near

Árborg Sveitarfélag ið Árborg () is a municipality in southern Iceland. It is the most populous in the region, with a population of 11,565 in 2024. Founded in 1998, its largest town is Selfoss. Eyrarbakki and Stokkseyri are two communities on the ...

municipality in the Southern Region of Iceland. It includes a stretch of the east shore of the

Ölfusá The Ölfusá () is a river in Iceland. It begins at the junction between the Hvítá, Árnessýsla, Hvítá and Sog River, Sog rivers, just north of the town of Selfoss (town), Selfoss, and flows for 25 km into the Atlantic Ocean. It is Ice ...

River. The reserve measures roughly wide by long, with an area of about . It is an Internationally Important Bird Area as recognised by

BirdLife International BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding i ...

. It is all low-lying wetland, on average only above sea level, and is subject to seawater flooding at the spring tide. There are vistas of the surrounding mountains. The reserve establishment began in spring 1997 when Icelandic Society for the Protection of Birds was awarded funding from the Environmental Fund for Trade and its operation has received support from the

Royal Society for the Protection of Birds The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) is a Charitable_organization#United_Kingdom, charitable organisation registered in Charity Commission for England and Wales, England and Wales and in Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator, ...

from the UK.http://www.fuglavernd.is/index.php/eng Icelandic Society for the Protection of Birdshttp://www.nat.is/travelguideeng/plofin_floi_nature_reserve.htm Nordic Adventure Travel

Birds on the reserve

The following birds have been reported as having been seen there: *

Whooper swan The whooper swan ( /ˈhuːpə(ɹ) swɒn/ "hooper swan"; ''Cygnus cygnus''), also known as the common swan, is a large northern hemisphere swan. It is the Eurasian counterpart of the North American trumpeter swan, and the type species for the genu ...

Greylag goose The greylag goose (''Anser anser'') is a species of large goose in the waterfowl family Anatidae and the type species of the genus ''Anser (bird), Anser''. It has mottled and barred grey and white plumage and an orange beak and pink legs. A lar ...

Mallard The mallard () or wild duck (''Anas platyrhynchos'') is a dabbling duck that breeds throughout the temperate and subtropical Americas, Eurasia, and North Africa. It has been introduced to New Zealand, Australia, Peru, Brazil, Uruguay, Arge ...

Eurasian wigeon The Eurasian wigeon or European wigeon (''Mareca penelope''), also known as the widgeon or the wigeon, is one of three species of wigeon in the dabbling duck genus ''Mareca''. It is common and widespread within its Palearctic range. Taxonomy T ...

* Common teal * Scaup *

Tufted duck The tufted duck (or tufted pochard) (''Aythya fuligula'') is a small diving duck with a population of nearly one million birds, found in northern Eurasia. They are partially migratory. The scientific name is derived from Ancient Greek , an unide ...

Red-breasted merganser The red-breasted merganser (''Mergus serrator'') is a duck species that is native to much of the Northern Hemisphere. The red breast that gives the species its common name is only displayed by males in breeding plumage. Individuals fly rapidly ...

* Pintail *

Gadwall The gadwall (''Mareca strepera'') is a common and widespread dabbling duck in the family Anatidae. Taxonomy The gadwall was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his landmark 1758 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae''. DNA studies have shown th ...

Northern shoveler The northern shoveler (; ''Spatula clypeata''), known simply in Britain as the shoveler, is a common and widespread duck. It breeds in northern areas of Europe and throughout the Palearctic and across most of North America, and winters in southe ...

* Eider duck * Red-throated diver *

Black-headed gull The black-headed gull (''Chroicocephalus ridibundus'') is a small gull that breeds in much of the Palearctic in Europe and Asia, and also locally in smaller numbers in coastal eastern Canada. Most of the population is migratory and winters fu ...

Arctic tern The Arctic tern (''Sterna paradisaea'') is a tern in the family Laridae. This bird has a circumpolar breeding distribution covering the Arctic and sub-Arctic regions of Europe (as far south as Brittany), Asia, and North America (as far south ...

* Arctic skua * Lesser black-backed gull *

Great black-backed gull The great black-backed gull (''Larus marinus'') is the largest member of the gull family. It is a very aggressive hunter, pirate, and scavenger which breeds on the coasts and islands of the North Atlantic in northern Europe and northeastern Nort ...

Meadow pipit The meadow pipit (''Anthus pratensis'') is a small passerine bird that breeds throughout much of the Palearctic, from south-eastern Greenland and Iceland east to just east of the Ural Mountains in Russia, and south to central France and Romania; ...

* Dunlin * Whimbrel *

Black-tailed godwit The black-tailed godwit (''Limosa limosa'') is a large, long-legged, long-billed shorebird first described by Carl Linnaeus in 1758. It is a member of the godwit genus, '' Limosa''. There are four subspecies, all with orange head, neck and ches ...

* Common snipe * Northern wheatear * Red-necked phalarope * Golden plover

References

External links

Icelandic Society for the Protection of Birds
Protected areas of Iceland Protected areas established in 1997 {{Europe-protected-area-stub