Winter visitor. Wexford Harbour & Slobs in County Wexford, Dublin Bay in County Dublin, Ballymacoda in County Cork, Dungarvan Harbour in County Waterford and the Shannon & Fergus Estuary in County Clare support most birds (400-1,200 birds).
Irish Name: | Feadóg ghlas |
Scientific name: | Pluvialis squatarola |
Bird Family: | Waders |
Winter visitor from Siberia - first birds arrive in Ireland and Britain towards the end of July but most here between September & April.
Big and bulky plover, large head and heavy bill. Posture hunched and feeding action pondorous. Black axilliaries, bold white wing-bar and white rump diagnostic in flight.
Call is mournful, trisyllabic whistle, the middle lower-pitched, occasionally stressed - 'peee-uu-ee'.
Feeds on a wide variety of burrowing intertidal invertebrates, particularly polychaete worms, molluscs and crustaceans.
Breeds across the high arctic regions of Russia & North America
Distribution in Ireland is widespread, but exclusively coastal. They occur mostly along eastern and southern coasts, most often on large muddy estuaries. They regularly roost among dense flocks during high tide, while their distribution is more scattered while feeding.
Winter visitor. Wexford Harbour & Slobs in County Wexford, Dublin Bay in County Dublin, Ballymacoda in County Cork, Dungarvan Harbour in County Waterford and the Shannon & Fergus Estuary in County Clare support most birds (400-1,200 birds).
Breeds in the high Arctic. Non-breeding birds rarely spend Summer in Ireland.
Workshop participants getting a glimpse of some interesting waterbirds at Rinville.
The outdoor portion of the events – which took place at Rusheen Bay and Rinville – proved fruitful, offering views of waterbirds such as Lapwing, Curlew, Turnstone and Sandwich Terns, to name but a few. Although not a waterbird, the sight of a beautiful female Wheatear hopping along the nearby rocks was a delightful bonus. Attendees brought with them a wealth of relevant experiences, skills and interests, with a high number of local university students and ecological consultants particular taking part. The interactive and informative workshops have thus far resulted in the recruitment of 30 new I-WeBS volunteers for Inner Galway Bay, with many more attendees choosing to sign up to survey at other sites. Meanwhile, the events inspired many more to get involved with their local Galway Branch of BirdWatch Ireland. In addition to boosting survey volunteer numbers, the recent events also offered a fantastic platform to spread the word about I-WeBS – a National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) funded monitoring project that has been running since 1994. Every year between September and March, close to 500 I-WeBS volunteers record wintering waterbirds at important wetland sites around the country. Irish wetlands are extremely important for the survival of these birds and I-WeBS keeps track of how these birds are faring so that informed conservation action can be taken.Participants working together to identify birds at Rinville.
The recent I-WeBS workshops focused predominantly on Inner Galway Bay – an internationally important site for wintering waterbirds, hosting over 20,000 birds every season. Inner Galway Bay is a site of international importance for the Great Northern Diver and Light-bellied Brent Goose, meaning that it regularly supports one per cent or more of the flyway population of these species. It is also a site of national importance for many birds, including Red-listed species such as Shoveler, Grey Plover, Dunlin, Redshank, Black-tailed Godwit, Bar-tailed Godwit and Lapwing. In all, the workshops proved to be a great success, in large part due to the strong collaboration between BirdWatch Ireland, BirdWatch Ireland’s Galway Branch, Galway County Council, Galway City Council, the Marine Institute and Knocknacarra Community Centre. BirdWatch Ireland is particularly grateful to Galway County Council and Galway City Council for funding binoculars and telescopes, which will be available for survey volunteers to rent from Galway City Library.© 2024 BirdWatch Ireland.