Irish Birds

The scientific journal of BirdWatch Ireland, Irish Birds, comes as part of a key membership or can be purchased seperately from the BirdWatch Ireland shop.

The journal has been published annually since 1977 and contains a range of scientific studies, reports, notes, reviews and observations relating to birds in Ireland. In recent years the journal has published the annual ‘Irish Rare Bird Report’ from the Irish Rare Birds Committee, and the ‘Irish Ringing Report’ summarising those birds ringed and caught in Ireland the previous year. The book of abstracts from the Ornithological Research Conference is also included when the conference is held in UCC, every four or five years.

Submissions for consideration for Irish Birds are welcome all year round. The deadline for consideration for the next issue of Irish Birds is 31st March 2026. The editor of Irish Birds is Dr. Tom Gittings, who can be emailed at tgittings@gmail.com. Guidelines for authors can be found here.

The most recent issue (Number 47) was published in September 2025 and is available to purchase here. The contents are listed below.

Papers

• Cormorants Phalacrocorax carbo breeding in Special Protection Areas in the Shannon Estuary and adjacent waters. S.Berrow, E.Keegan, I.O’Connor & A.Le Méléder
• Estimates of breeding seabirds in the Shannon and Fergus Estuaries (2014-2024) obtained from boats and UAVs. A.Le Méléder & S.Berrow
• Productivity analysis of the Common Swift Apus apus at two nest bix projects in Ireland – Castlebar, County Mayo and Maguiresbridge, County Fermanagh. J.Majkusiak
• Factors influencing trends in coastal grassland breeding waders in Counties Donegal and Sligo, 2017-2021. A. Donaghy, J.A.Smith, G.Porcedda, M.Bell, C.McMonagle & D.Moloney
• County bird lists of Ireland. M.Shorten
• Wintering birds of the non-estuarine coast in Counties Sligo and Leitrim D.Cotton & N.Raftery
• The breeding gulls and terns of Loughs Mask and Carra, County Mayo E.McGreal & C.Benson
• A synopsis of inland records of the Kittiwake Rissa tridactyla in Ireland, 1959-2023. T.C.Kelly, N.E.Coughlan, A.Duggan, B.Power, E.Carty & P.Smiddy
• Irish Rare Bird Report 2022. D.Higgins & A. O’Donaill (on behalf of the Irish Rare Birds Committee)
• Irish Ringing Report for 2022. A. Copland & K. Collins

Notes

• A case if infanticide in Sand Martins Riparia riparia. J.Wilson
• Did Gerald of Wales record Black Stork Ciconia nigra in Ireland in the 1180s. A.J. Tighe
• First record pf breeding in Ireland by Common Eider Somateria mollissima: a correction. P.Smiddy
• The first Irish record of Great Bustard Otis tarda: a genuine vagrant from continental Europe or part of a reintroduction programme at Norfolk (England)?. P.Smiddy & T.C.Kelly
• Utilisation of coastal pools associated with carbonate springs by Irish avifauna. T.W.Garner & G.M. Rishwort
• First breeding of reintroduced White-tailed Eagles Haliaeetus albicilla confirmed in Northern Ireland. E.Rooney, M.Ruddock, A.Mee & C.Heardman
• Exceptional movements of Great Shearwaters Ardenna gravis off the west coast of Ireland in autumn 2024. P.Moore & J.Lynch
• Avian visual foraging strategies: evidence of downward-looking flight in Jackdaws Corvus monedula and Black-headed Gulls Larus ridibundus. T.C.Kelly, N.E.Coughlan, R.Whelan & P.Smiddy

Review

• BirdTrack. N.J.Bourke & T.Gittings

Obituary

• John Temple Lang (1936-2022). T.C.Kelly