Birds are probably our most visible and familiar wild animals. They visit our gardens in towns and cities and perch on buildings and overhead wires. They live in every habitat - farmland, bog, woodland, mountains and lowlands. Seabirds can be seen around our 7,500km of coastline. In recent years, there has been a decline in farmland birds and songbirds due to modern farming practices - for example, a lack of insects is caused by overuse of pesticides, and the removal of hedgerows cause the loss of important nesting sites.
Common garden birds include the Finches, Tits, Crow family, Thrush, Robin, Swallow, Wood Pigeon, Wren, Pied Wagtail, and Blackbird.
Our three resident owl species are the Long-eared Owl, Short-eard Owl, and the Barn Owl. The Barn Owl, Tyto alba, is one of our most beautiful birds. It hunts at night along roadside verges and by quartering fields, searching for rats, mice and other small mammals. Unfortunately the Barn Owl has become scarce in recent years.
Other Irish birds of prey include the Sparrowhawk, Goshawk, Merlin, Hen Harrier, Kestrel, Peregrine Falcon, and Buzzard. In 2001, Golden Eagles were reintroduced to Co. Donegal after an absence of 95 years. Once widespread in the mountains of Ulster, Connacht, and Munster, the Golden Eagle became extinct due to persecution, including poisoning, shooting, trapping and egg collection. The aim of the Golden Eagle Reintroduction Project is to return this beautiful raptor to the Irish fauna.
Some three Irish inland wetland sites and 10 estuarine sites hold internationally important assemblages of waterbirds. Irish seabirds include Shag, Cormorant, Puffin, Gannet, Gulls, and Fulmar. Ireland is home to important breeding colonies of species that are endangered elsewhere, including Arctic Tern, Common Tern, Sandwich Tern, and Little Tern; and has one of the largest breeding populations of Storm Petrels in the world. Ireland is home to the rare Roseate Tern at a number of colonies, such as Rockabill Island, Dublin, and Lady' s Island Lake, Wexford. Ireland also holds the largest north- west European population of Chough.
Probably the most important Irish breeding bird is the Corncrake, Crex crex, of which Ireland holds the largest concentration in western Europe. Once a very common summer visitor, breeding in all counties, the decline in this species was due mainly to changes in farming practises. Due to the abandonment of traditional hay cutting in favour of silage use, Corncrakes do not have time to fledge their young before the first grass cut. Many eggs and chicks were destroyed and many females, reluctant to break cover, were killed. Successful conservation programmes in the Shannon Callows, west Connaught and north Donegal allows the birds enough time to fledge their young and grants to farmers encourage corncrake-friendly grass-cutting, and it is hoped that the decline can be stopped.
Barn Owl Tyto alba (Photo: Mike Brown)