It occupies an area of 33 square km, the territory of 22 square km is a seasonal restricted area while 11 square km the remaining territory is a regular restricted area. There are about 97 species of birds observed in the reserve. The birds of 59 species make nests at the lake and in the nearest area of the lake. On the lake we can find 23 species of geese. The pride of the lake are swans especially mute swans.
Mute swans are the largests birds encountered in the republic.
They occur on shallow, partially overgrown lakes and fishponds, mainly in the western Latvia. Since the mute swan is protected by law the number of this rare species has considerably increased. Mute swans have been making nests at Lake Engure since 1935. Now there are approximatly 100 pairs of them. Also there are 2700 pairs of diverse species of ducks.