Patrick Smiddy: Birds are pollinators, their forgotten acorns often grow into trees

Patrick Smiddy tells Colette Sheridan about the inspiration behind his book The Birds of County Cork

Patrick Smiddy, co-author of The Birds of County Cork

Bird populations have probably changed more rapidly in the last thirty years than during any other comparable period, says Patrick Smiddy, co-author of The Birds of County Cork which comes out next month. Smiddy, based in East Cork, is a former editor of the journal Irish Birds and is an honorary research associate with the Ornithology Group at UCC. He retired from the National Parks and Wildlife Service in 2008 but continues to work in wildlife consultancy and has experience of Irish ornithology spanning fifty years.

The book's aim is to examine the status, distribution and migration patterns of birds in County Cork (not Ireland, although trends for many species are similar throughout the country) from the earliest records dating from Charles Smith's 1750 work, The Ancient and Present State of the County and City of Cork, up to 2018.