Time to nest and breed

FOR most of our wildlife, though not quite all of it, spring is the season for mating and breeding.

All our bird species breed in the spring, though some, which have several broods a year, continue on through the summer, even occasionally into the early autumn. Wood pigeons have been observed rearing their last brood as late as October.

But spring is a rather elastic season in Ireland and it is defined differently by different bird species. Birds of the crow family, and seven species of crow breed in Ireland, are usually the first to breed. Ravens, our largest crow, are mostly sitting on eggs already. They have been known to start laying in February in milder parts of their range.