{"id":276510,"date":"2026-02-02T06:45:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-02T06:45:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/276510\/"},"modified":"2026-02-02T06:45:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-02T06:45:08","slug":"third-of-irelands-wintering-waterbirds-vanish-in-just-30-years-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/276510\/","title":{"rendered":"Third of Ireland\u2019s wintering waterbirds vanish in just 30 years \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">A third of Ireland\u2019s wintering waterbirds have disappeared in the last 30 years, an extensive new study shows. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">Numbers of some species of the migratory ducks, geese, swans, waders and gulls that come from colder countries are down more than 50 per cent. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">The elaborately coloured pochard, scaup, goldeneye and tufted duck fall into this category. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">The most dramatic decline is in the population of Bewick\u2019s Swan which comes from as far away as western Siberia to escape the frozen winters in Ireland\u2019s warmer climate. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">By 2010, fewer than 100 were recorded, and last year, only one was sighted, making it \u201cthe first winter without any regular over-wintering Bewick\u2019s Swans\u201d. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/tags\/climate-change\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/tags\/climate-change\/\">Climate change<\/a> is believed to be one cause of the bird\u2019s disappearance, with rising global temperatures meaning it does not have to travel as far as Ireland to find a suitable location to spend winter. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">However, loss of habitat, disturbance by people, avian flu, hunting and collisions with infrastructure are all playing a part in the falling numbers of waterbirds generally. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">\u201cIreland\u2019s waterbirds are in trouble,\u201d said Helen Boland, manager of the Irish Wetland Bird Survey which is carried out annually by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/tags\/birdwatch-ireland\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/tags\/birdwatch-ireland\/\">BirdWatch Ireland<\/a> for the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/tags\/national-parks-and-wildlife-service\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/tags\/national-parks-and-wildlife-service\">National Parks and Wildlife Service<\/a> (NPWS), with the help of more than 1,200 volunteers. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">\u201cMore than ever we need solid, scientifically robust information tracking their status.\u201d <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph b-it-article-body__interstitial-link\">[\u00a0<a aria-label=\"Open related story\" class=\"c-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/ireland\/dublin\/2025\/08\/08\/rare-white-stork-spotted-in-dublin-may-be-result-of-climate-change-says-expert\/\" rel=\"noreferrer nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Rare white stork spotted in Dublin may be result of climate change, says expertOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">Some species are reversing that trend, with 18 of the 63 studied showing increasing numbers. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">These include the little egret, a now commonly seen white heron that did not appear at all in Ireland when recording began in the 1990s. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">Climate change is believed to be the key influence here, too, except in the opposite way, with Ireland\u2019s winters previously too harsh for the bird from North African and Southern Europe when it went looking for winter feeding grounds. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">The brent goose, barnacle goose, whooper swan and eider have also grown in numbers. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">The data gathered by volunteers over the past 30 years has been compiled in a report of more than 300 pages published on Monday to mark World Wetlands Day. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">Tony Murray, an NPWS ornithologist, said Ireland played a very important role in the life of these birds and they in turn made a huge contribution to the country. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">\u201cOne of the great spectacles of nature in Ireland every year is the arrival of migratory waterbirds to our wetlands, something enjoyed by people all across the country,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">\u201cThese birds undertake mammoth migrations every year to escape the harsh freezing conditions of their northern breeding grounds and Ireland plays a key role in their survival by giving them protected areas to feed and rest. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">\u201cThe Irish Wetland Bird Survey allows us to track the fortunes of these waterbirds at a local and national level, helping us identify problems and enact solutions.\u201d <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">Minister of State for Nature Christopher O\u2019Sullivan has urged the general public to play their part. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">\u201cSimple actions like keeping your dog on a leash in wetland areas, and keeping your distance from them during their feeding and resting periods will help these birds survive the winter periods,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A third of Ireland\u2019s wintering waterbirds have disappeared in the last 30 years, an extensive new study shows.&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":276511,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[134464,2885,61,60,4875,43],"class_list":["post-276510","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-birdwatch-ireland","tag-climate-change","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-national-parks-and-wildlife-service","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/276510","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=276510"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/276510\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/276511"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=276510"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=276510"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=276510"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}