The Mindelo Ornithological Reserve (; ROM) is a

bird reserve A bird reserve (also called ornithological reserve) is a wildlife refuge designed to protect bird species. Like other wildlife refuges, the main goal of a reserve is to prevent species from becoming endangered or extinct. Typically, bird species in ...

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

. It is located in the coastal zone of the North Region, in the municipality of

Vila do Conde Vila do Conde (, ; "the Count's Town") is a municipality in the Norte Region, Portugal, Norte Region of Portugal. The population in 2011 was 79,533, in an area of 149.03 km2. The urbanized area of Vila do Conde, which includes the parishes of ...

, about from

Porto Porto (), also known in English language, English as Oporto, is the List of cities in Portugal, second largest city in Portugal, after Lisbon. It is the capital of the Porto District and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto c ...

. It occupies an area of around 6 million square meters. It was created in 1957 in order to protect resident and migratory birds, forest and dunes, being the first area for nature conservation in Portugal. It is also said to be the first ornithological reserve in Europe. Santos Junior, professor in the Faculty of Sciences of the

University of Porto The University of Porto (''Universidade do Porto'') is a Portuguese public research university located in Porto, and founded on 22 March 1911. It is the second largest Portuguese university by number of enrolled students, after the University ...

, proposed the creation of the reserve and initiated the bird banding in Portugal with the help from roleiros. Roleiros are turtle dove catchers using nets with traditional methods. From 1953 to 1989, about 20,000 doves were captured for

bird ringing Bird ringing (UK) or bird banding (US) is the attachment of a small, individually numbered metal or plastic tag to the leg or wing of a wild bird to enable individual identification. This helps in keeping track of the movements of the bird an ...

External reference

Mindelo Ornithological Reserve
on natural.pt {{coord, 41, 19, 23, N, 8, 43, 52, W, source:kolossus-ptwiki, display=title Nature conservation in Portugal