Ornithology

A COMPREHENSIVE SERIES OF ARTICLES ON THIS TOPIC

Long Eared Owl
Anja Murray: The sounds of long-eared owls
Long-eared owls are recognisable by their large ear tufts — feathers that stand up on their head where you might imagine their ears should be. But these ear tufts are not ears at all, they don’t even have a role in hearing...

Wed, 30 Jul, 2025

ANIMALS Seagull 1
Birds of Ireland: Black-headed gull
A black-headed gull has a noisy, high-pitched call which includes a thin-sounding, drawn-out kaaww — and they also engage in softer 'chatter'

Sun, 27 Jul, 2025

Birds of Ireland: Common gull — or mew gull
Birds of Ireland: Common gull — or mew gull
In flight the white wing tips are noticeable on adult birds

Sat, 19 Jul, 2025

The birds of County Donegal — some doing well and others almost gone... with climate change likely to see them out
The birds of County Donegal — some doing well and others almost gone... with climate change likely to see them out
Ralph Sheppard is an ecologist living in Donegal, where he has been monitoring the birds since the 1950s. This is an extract from his book The Birds of County Donegal

Mon, 30 Jun, 2025

Birds of Ireland: Great Black-backed Gull
Birds of Ireland: Great Black-backed Gull
This is the largest Irish gull and has a wing span of up to 160 centimetres

Sun, 29 Jun, 2025

Birds of Ireland: Water Rail
Birds of Ireland: Water Rail
A water rail's voice is the easiest way to identify this secretive bird — it's a loud grunting/squealing pig-like call from a reed bed or other waterside vegetation, mainly at dawn/dusk and at night

Sun, 15 Jun, 2025

Birds of Ireland: Coot
Birds of Ireland: Coot
An adult coot has a conspicuous white beak and forehead shield; black plumage; dark red eye; and large, lobed green-grey feet

Sun, 08 Jun, 2025

Greater Spotted Woodpecker on tree through branches
Like a phoenix... rare woodpecker spotted in city park
Have you heard a woodpecker 'drumming' on trees in Phoenix Park in Dublin — or elsewhere across the country?

Thu, 29 May, 2025

Spring weather April 2nd 2025
Birds of Ireland: Woodpigeon
Woodpigeons are fat-looking and are found here all year around in woodlands, on farmland, and in gardens

Sun, 25 May, 2025

Collared Dove (Streptopelia decaocto)
Birds of Ireland: Collared dove
The collared dove is one of the more recent doves and pigeons to arrive in Ireland: it was unheard of here before 1957 and is now widespread and common

Mon, 19 May, 2025

Did other birds copy owls' state-of-the-art navigation system?
Did other birds copy owls' state-of-the-art navigation system?
A new harrier biology study says these large daylight-hunting hawks have evolved an auditory system similar to owls

Thu, 15 May, 2025

Kingfisher in Northumberland Park
Birds of Ireland: Kingfisher
In flight, kingfishers look like a blue flash; they have a low, straight, buzzing flight with occasional gliding. They dive from branches and other perches over water

Mon, 12 May, 2025

eurasian skylark
Larks — nearly invisible in a sunny sky but worth listening for
'The music soars within the little lark, And the lark soars.' Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Wed, 07 May, 2025

Why do sand martins sometimes reject last year's nest burrows?
Why do sand martins sometimes reject last year's nest burrows?
The sand martins are back from Africa now and it seems to be a lottery whether they return to previously dug tunnels or whether they dig new ones

Thu, 01 May, 2025

Adult nestling barn swallows (Hirundo rustica)
Birds of Ireland: Swallow
Swallows are summer migrants from Africa to Ireland, arriving here in spring and departing in autumn. If the weather is good they will often rear two or even three broods of young.

Sun, 27 Apr, 2025

Chough, Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocora
Clever, playful, and communicative — lots to like about the crow family
Each of the seven crow species that occur in Ireland have a lot of very similar traits, including an impressive ability to reason and to learn

Wed, 23 Apr, 2025

Common Swift (Apus apus).
Birds of Ireland: Swift
Swifts are so adapted to an aerial existence that they cannot take off from level ground or perch on a wire or twig. Their tiny feet and claws are designed for clinging onto vertical surfaces

Sun, 20 Apr, 2025

Anja Murray: Off-leash dogs can cause havoc with wild birds
Anja Murray: Off-leash dogs can cause havoc with wild birds
Dogs running through areas where birds are feeding or nesting can stress, exhaust and even kill threatened species

Wed, 16 Apr, 2025

Couple of rooks / crows collecting nesting material
Birds of Ireland: Rook
Rooks have have black plumage with a purple-blue sheen — and they have untidy-looking feathers around their thighs (like ‘shaggy trousers’)

Sun, 13 Apr, 2025

Daddy long legs mosquito swarm in England
Insect population collapse and why it matters now
Bird populations here and elsewhere have been halved during our lifetimes, with a 40% decline in the last decade alone.

Thu, 27 Mar, 2025

Birds of Ireland: Oystercatcher
Birds of Ireland: Oystercatcher
If you can spot a large group of waders 'wheeling' over an estuary it can be a great sight

Sun, 23 Mar, 2025

Birds of Ireland: Lapwing
Birds of Ireland: Lapwing
Did you know that the lapwing was declared Ireland's national bird back in 1990?

Sun, 16 Mar, 2025

Group of crows on the roof of a building
Why are crows so noisy in early spring?
Some scientists even believe crows have regional dialects, meaning the ones in Dublin might sound slightly different from their Cork cousins

Fri, 07 Mar, 2025

COMMON EIDER somateria mollissima, EGGS IN NEST, SCOTLAND
Richard Collins: Nesting eider ducks will pay farmers 'rent'
The eider, twice as heavy as a mallard, is Europe’s biggest duck. On leaving the nest, the female covers her eggs in down plucked from her breast. The grey fluffy material is a ‘gold standard’ insulator. It traps the bird’s heat better than does the domestic goose down we stuff into pillows

Thu, 06 Mar, 2025

Anja Murray: Spring migration is tough enough — here's how we can help
Anja Murray: Spring migration is tough enough — here's how we can help
And volunteers are needed now for The Countryside Bird Survey... the data collected is how we track the changes in populations of our common and widespread birds over time

Wed, 05 Mar, 2025

Birds of Ireland: Grey Heron
Birds of Ireland: Grey Heron
The sounds of grey herons at nest during day and at night are like a fairy-tale monster or someone getting sick! 

Mon, 10 Feb, 2025

Lady’s Island Lake has enormous significance, but its lagoon ecosystems are collapsing
Lady’s Island Lake has enormous significance, but its lagoon ecosystems are collapsing
Wexford's Lady’s Island Lake has enormous ecological, spiritual and historical significance.

Wed, 22 Jan, 2025

Donal Hickey: Early (black)bird gets spring things going
Donal Hickey: Early (black)bird gets spring things going
We have had early tulips and daffodils thanks for mainly mild weather this winter so this could be why garden birds are out looking for mates and proclaiming territory so early too

Thu, 09 Jan, 2025

Richard Collins: The worst single-species die-off in the modern era
Richard Collins: The worst single-species die-off in the modern era
Millions of seabirds and other wildlife have been affected by 'the blob' — seal, sea-lion, cod, and humpback whale numbers have fallen drastically  

Fri, 27 Dec, 2024

'Tis the season... for barn owl nest box maintenance
'Tis the season... for barn owl nest box maintenance
Barn owls can be killed if they eat poisoned rats or mice — these birds are themselves one of the best means of natural rodent control

Thu, 12 Dec, 2024

Anja Murray: The return of woodpeckers is a cause for celebration
Anja Murray: The return of woodpeckers is a cause for celebration
True to their exceptional nature, woodpeckers' remarkable comeback gives us a glimpse into the potential for ecological recovery, a nudge to remind us that when woodlands return, their wild residents are often able to recover lost ground too

Mon, 09 Dec, 2024

9 things you didn't know about holly, our favourite Christmas plant
Donal Hickey: Early berries a sign of a harsh winter ahead?
This year, I saw red holly berries more than two months ago — trees working hard to feed hungry birds or is that a myth?

Thu, 31 Oct, 2024

Blackbird
Richard Collins: Bird migration is dangerous and demanding — why do it? 
It was originally thought birds migrated to save energy in a warmer climate but new research is challenging this idea

Thu, 24 Oct, 2024

Redwing Feeding on Fallen Apples in Orchard
Seán Ronayne: Don't let birds battle their way here to find an empty larder
Irish winters are a welcome winter 'holiday' for birds flying from Scandinavia but they need decent hedgerow meals after tough journeys across swirling seas to get here

Wed, 16 Oct, 2024

Remote island bird at risk of extinction is thrown a lifeline by parasitic wasps
Remote island bird at risk of extinction is thrown a lifeline by parasitic wasps
An invasive scale insect was devastating the population of endangered birds but a small wasp is being used to control the insects, allowing the bird numbers slowly recover 

Tue, 08 Oct, 2024

MARINE GROUP RALLY
Anja Murray: What's the delay with the Marine Protected Areas bill?
A recent major study revealed that globally, seabirds have declined overall by 70% in the last 50 years and are currently one of the most threatened groups of birds in the world — so delays in publishing the long-awaited Marine Protected Areas bill are alarming

Wed, 02 Oct, 2024

Richard Collins: Resourceful and intelligent rooks celebrated in watercolour
Richard Collins: Resourceful and intelligent rooks celebrated in watercolour
Five of the 17 pictures by Mildred Anne Butler at the National Gallery of Ireland depict rooks. She also painted cattle, steam-powered threshing machines, and doves

Thu, 26 Sep, 2024

Donal Hickey: Why have the birds abandoned my garden?
Donal Hickey: Why have the birds abandoned my garden?
Some readers have been in touch to say that the wild birds seem to have deserted the area despite full feeders and birdbaths 

Thu, 29 Aug, 2024

Richard Collins: New species of storm petrel discovered
Richard Collins: New species of storm petrel discovered
The Andean storm petrel has been discovered in South America — these birds fly just skimming the surface of the ocean and are named after St Peter who is mentioned in the bible as walking on the Sea of Galilee

Thu, 22 Aug, 2024

Richard Collins: Flamboyant flamingos researched
Richard Collins: Flamboyant flamingos researched
They look only fabulous of course — but are flamingos particularly vain, and do they spend more time preening than other birds?

Thu, 15 Aug, 2024

South Polar Skua, Catharacta maccornicki on Cuverville Island, Antarctica.
Donal Hickey: Spotted — Ireland's first south polar skua
Final confirmation is determined by the Irish Rare Birds Committee, based on video evidence and the evidence of the eight birders present when the pictures below were taken

Thu, 15 Aug, 2024

Richard Collins: Wild birds are more intelligent than they’ve been given credit for
Richard Collins: Wild birds are more intelligent than they’ve been given credit for
Experts have found that blue and great tits remember "where they have eaten in the past, where they found the food, and when they found it"

Thu, 18 Jul, 2024

Islands of Ireland: Mizen Head's Bird Island is really tricky to get to — and that's great
Islands of Ireland: Mizen Head's Bird Island is really tricky to get to — and that's great
'This is just the fourth island in this series to defeat the attempt of this columnist to land'

Fri, 05 Jul, 2024

Adult nestling barn swallows (Hirundo rustica)
Richard Collins: Is the swallow an African bird coming here to breed, or is it a European one spending its winter holidays in the warmer south?
Does the fact that more ornithologists live in the northern hemisphere make a difference to answering this question?

Thu, 13 Jun, 2024

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Mick Clifford
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