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Irish Examiner
25-05-2025
- General
- Irish Examiner
Birds of Ireland: Woodpigeon
Woodpigeon | Colm coille | Columba palumbus A woodpigeon is typically 40-42cm long with a wingspan of 75-80cm. They are a common breeding species here and are found all year round in woodlands, farmland, and in gardens. Woodpigeons are rook-sized — fat-looking with a small head; short, red legs; a pale yellow/pink beak; a pale cream iris; and an overall grey body. Adult woodpigeons have white neck patches/crescents on their wings; and a pink-grey breast — their rump/lower back is a pale blue-grey; and their tail is grey with a black band, more clearly marked below. Birds of Ireland: Woodpigeon Juvenile and immature woodpigeon look like the adults but lack the white on their neck. In flight a woodpigeon appears grey, with the white crescents on their wings visible. They have rapid wingbeats and can be mistaken for bird of prey. In display they show a steep flight upwards, ending in loud wing claps and downward glide. A woodpigeons voice is a loud cooing, sounding like Take two, John, take two; often repeated several times/may start in middle of phrase. Juvenile and immature woodpigeon look like the adults but lack the white on their necks Tip of the Week Like many other things, bird conservation can begin at home. There are many things, at a personal or local level, that you can do to help birds in their daily lives: 1. Make your garden bird-friendly by planting suitable trees and plants such as berry bushes and by providing water, perhaps by making a permanent pond. 2. The plastic rings holding packs of beer or soft drink cans together can get caught around birds' necks and result in their suffering a long, slow, agonising death. Always cut up these plastic rings before throwing them in the bin and if you come across them bring them home or tear them up on the spot. 3. Discarded fishing line is another lethal trap for birds, so always cut the line up into small pieces before disposing of it in a waste bin. Also try to avoid using lead weights. Safe substitutes are available. Lost lead can find its way into Mute Swans and other wildfowl and poison them. 4. Under the Wildlife Acts, hedge-cutting in the Republic of Ireland is illegal between March 1 and August 31 each year, though some exceptions are allowed for, amongst others, reasons of road safety and agricultural operations. Please report any illegal hedge-cutting to the National Parks & Wildlife Service or your local authority. F eatured in Birds of Ireland: A field guide By Jim Wilson, with photographs by Mark Carmody Birds of Ireland: A field guide By Jim Wilson, with photographs by Mark Carmody Jim Wilson is a wildlife writer, broadcaster, tour leader, and former chairman of BirdWatch Ireland. He has been involved in the study and conservation of birds in Ireland for more than 45 years, contributing to several major surveys and international projects. Mark Carmody is an award-winning wildlife photographer, has a PhD in biochemistry and works as a European patent attorney. Read More Birds of Ireland: Chaffinch
Irish Independent
24-05-2025
- Irish Independent
Nature Trail: How many kinds of wild birds can you identify?
We are all on learning curves and fortunately long gone are the days of aimlessly flicking through the pictures in a bird book hoping to find a matching mugshot of a mystery bird that you happened to get a fleeting glimpse of. The wonders of artificial intelligence (AI) are now readily available in a new app thanks to BirdWatch Ireland and Sunbird. With over 100 apps to its name, Sunbird Images are the global market leader for digital nature guides. The company has just developed and produced BirdWatch Ireland's first ever app. Called 'Birds of Ireland Field Guide', the app is available both on the Apple App Store for iOS and on the Google Play Store for Android. 492 species of wild bird have been recorded in Ireland. Well over 100 of them are common and regularly occur and all of these are featured on the new app free of charge. The others are uncommon species, unusual species, rare vagrants, and ones that may have been recorded only once. Access to these additional species can be unlocked on the app with an annual subscription The free version of the app includes high-quality identification plates, in-depth species profiles, bird names in 20 languages including Irish, a manual ID tool, a 'Similar species' tool, side-by-side comparison of up to eight species, European range maps, and the ability to create and export lists of personal sightings. The premium paid version features cutting-edge AI to identify birds by sound or photo, access to over 1,140 bird calls and songs, plus video clips showcasing typical behaviour, lifelike 3D bird models using augmented reality, egg images for all native breeding birds, custom-made Irish distribution maps, and more. The Sandeel in the bill of the bird in the image above is the give-away that tells you it is a seabird. Three marks for correctly identifying it as a tern and all six marks for knowing that it is a Roseate Tern, the rarest breeding seabird in Europe and a species that Ireland is a hotspot for.
Irish Examiner
19-05-2025
- Science
- Irish Examiner
Peregrine Falcon chick born in Cork city — and another hopefully on the way
A Peregrine Falcon chick has been born at St Fin Barre's Cathedral. The new arrival is a "7cm long ball of fluff at the top of a windy tower" and the parents are Makeda and Solomon. The Dean of Cork welcomed the hatchling. Reverend Nigel Dunne said: "We are delighted with this news." "Hopefully this chick will thrive and be able, in Christ's words, 'to live life abundantly'." And that's not all the good new either. It is hoped that a second egg will hatch in the coming days. A Cathedral spokesperson said that "all are well, however these early weeks are a challenging time for all young birds". The nest has a camera monitoring it and this project is a collaboration between St Fin Barre's Quarter Development Group who funded the nest camera and access equipment, BirdWatch Ireland. Dr Alan McCarthy has been providing expert advice and the National Parks and Wildlife Service's Sam Bayley has also giving oversight on the project. Peregrine Falcons are birds of prey (raptors) with a short hooked bill. They have a heavy powerfully built body and a medium length tail — the female is larger than the male. The adult birds are a bluey grey with white underparts. Juvenile birds are similar to adults but have brownish upperparts and streaked, not barred, feathers on the body. BirdWatch Ireland notes that: "Estimates of speeds vary, but it seems likely that birds reach speeds in excess of 300km/hour, making it the fastest animal on the planet." The species is still recovering from a dramatic and well-documented decline in the 1950s and 60s due to the effects of pesticide poisoning.
Irish Examiner
19-05-2025
- General
- Irish Examiner
Birds of Ireland: Collared dove
Collared Dove | Fearán baicdhubh | Streptopelia decaocto A collared dove is about 30-32 centimetres long with a wing span of 49-53cm. They are a common breeding species found in farmland and in gardens here all year around. A collared dove is slightly smaller than a jackdaw and both sexes look similar. They have a short, thin, dark beak; dark red eyes; short, powdery-pink legs. Collared doves of all ages have sandy-brown plumage, dark brown primaries, and a distinctive (but not always noticeable) thin, black half-collar at the base of their neck. Recently fledged birds have no half collar. In flight a collared dove looks sandy-brown with darker wing tips visible as are the pale tips to most tail feathers, and their large, white undertail band. A collared dove flies straight with fast, jerky wingbeats. For its display behaviour a collared dove glides with stiff, slightly downcurved wings/fanned tail, showing pale under-wing/white undertail with black band at base. Its voice is a gentle cooing sound phrased like ' can yoouuu coo' repeated twice or more. Birds of Ireland: Collared dove Tip of the week: Separating the calls of the collared dove and woodpigeon is easy if you remember that collared doves seem to say, ' Can yoouuu coo ... can yoouuu coo ...', while the similar-sounding woodpigeon 'says' ' take two, John, take two'. There are some very reliable websites with excellent libraries of bird sounds, such as Doves and pigeons are characterised by very short legs, small heads and cooing calls. The most common member of this group is the woodpigeon, which can be a serious pest to farmers. The most recent arrival is the collared dove, unheard of here before 1959, and now widespread and common. Featured in Birds of Ireland: A Field Guide, (Gill Books) by Jim Wilson, with photographs by Mark Carmody Birds of Ireland: A field guide By Jim Wilson, with photographs by Mark Carmody Jim Wilson is a wildlife writer, broadcaster, tour leader, and former chairman of BirdWatch Ireland. He has been involved in the study and conservation of birds in Ireland for more than 45 years, contributing to several major surveys and international projects. Mark Carmody is an award-winning wildlife photographer, has a PhD in biochemistry and works as a European patent attorney. Read More Birds of Ireland: Magpie
Agriland
10-05-2025
- Agriland
Want to identify a bird? There's an app for that
If you have ever struggled to identify a bird species on your farm or in the garden, then a brand new app may be of help. The Birds of Ireland Field Guide, the first app launched by BirdWatch Ireland, offers a comprehensive guide to all of the 492 bird species ever recorded in Ireland. All regularly occurring Irish species are included in the free version, while over 260 additional rare vagrant species can be unlocked with an annual subscription. A unique feature of this app, which is available for iOS and Android devices, is the set of 'identification plates', custom-designed specifically for Ireland's birds. Each plate highlights all major plumage differences, key identification features, and traits that help distinguish similar species. Bird app Niall Hatch, head of communications and development with BirdWatch Ireland, told Agriland that the app covers every bird species that has ever been recorded in Ireland. 'The basic download of the app is free of charge and that covers all of the regularly occurring species in Ireland that you're ever likely to see. It is very important to us that that aspect is free. 'We know that more and more people are coming to have a real interest in birds. I think that interest was sparked during Covid. 'There's a lot of resources out there for helping to identify birds and learn more about them but precious few apps that deal solely from an Irish point of view, dealing specifically with the Irish species. That's something we're really proud of,' he said. Source: Birds of Ireland Field Guide app Source: Birds of Ireland Field Guide app Source: Birds of Ireland Field Guide app BirdWatch Ireland produced the state-of-the-art app in collaboration with the German-based app developer, Sunbird Images. For users who choose the premium version, augmented reality technology allows the birds to appear in life size, while artificial intelligence will help identify birds by sound or photo. 'As a charity, when people do upgrade to the premium version, then BirdWatch Ireland benefits from that. That money helps to support our conservation work. 'We're very keen to stress that the basic version of the app is amazingly functional and it is free of charge. We keen for as many people to download it and use it as possible,' Hatch said. Species The app contains filters so that users can sort different species by colour, size, location, and beak size. 'It's also a really nice app just to leaf through and have a look at the different birds that occur in Ireland. I think a lot of people will be surprised at just how varied the bird life of Ireland is and how many wonderful species we have,' Hatch said. 'Ireland really punches above its weight when it comes to bird diversity, given our location. 'We're the first port of call for birds crossing the Atlantic, we're the last port of call for birds leaving Europe. We're sort of a bridge between north and south so from that point of view you get birds from all over the world coming to Ireland, which is phenomenal. 'We have over 1,100 bird call recordings on the app, we have video clips, we've these 3D models – I'm sure that people won't have seen an app like this, it really is very sophisticated,' he added. The app details the conservation status and rarity of each species, while the Irish language version of each bird's name is also included. Hatch said that the app will be a valuable resource for the thousands of 'citizen scientists' who take part in BirdWatch Ireland initiatives, including the popular annual Irish Garden Bird Survey, which runs in the winter months. 'I know several people who have downloaded the app and they're already quite addicted to it! You learn a lot from it, the amount of information in it is absolutely stunning,' Hatch said. BirdWatch Ireland operates over 30 local branches and has more than 15,000 members, making it the largest ornithological organisation in Ireland. Branches across the country are currently running events to allow people experience the dawn and dusk choruses.
