Donal Hickey: Plenty to see — and learn from — in new Cork bird book

Urgent efforts needed to save crucial bird habitats

The Birds of County Cork by Patrick Smiddy, Mark Shorten and Russ Heselden

A well-researched, new book by experts could be the springboard for more urgent efforts to save crucial bird habitats in Cork.

The authors of The Birds of County Cork say bird populations across Ireland are undergoing change at a rate never previously experienced. On one hand, there are major conservation efforts to restore species, such as eagles and the red kite; on the other, climate change is driving unprecedented declines in many bird populations.