Wings

BirdWatch Ireland’s magazine for members, Wings, is published three times a year and is packed full of news and information including regular features such as:

• Latest News
• Site Guides
• Species Features
• Photo Galleries
• Events and Branch Information
• Reviews
• Rare Bird News

In the current issue

• Sparkbirds: we ask people to tell us about the bird that first sparked their interest in wild birds and nature.
• Spring Diary: Dick Coombes highlights some of the key birds to watch out for over the coming months.
• Swift Conservation: Tara Adcock, our Urban Birds Project Officer, reports on our ongoing efforts across the country to save these iconic birds.
• Ainmneacha Éanlaith Éireann: Fearghas Mac Lochlainn continues his regular Irish-language column on the names of birds as Gaeilge.
• Worrying trends in waterbirds: Cian O’Flaherty of our Irish Wetland Bird Survey Office reports on a new landmark publication which reveals wintering waterbird trends in Ireland over the last 30 years.
• My Bloom: Valerie Lowth of BirdWatch Ireland’s Administration and Membership Team shares us her personal experience of organising and attending our stand at the Bord Bia Bloom festival each summer, our largest membership recruitment event of the year.
• ‘Interwoven/Fite Fuaite’ – stitching hope: Niamh Fitzgerald of our Surveys and Monitoring Team reports on how BirdWatch Ireland and its conservation work featured in a collective quilt project.
• Kittiwakes nesting on oil rigs in the Irish Sea: Debs Albrook fills us in on the fortunes of these vulnerable seabirds and appeals for sightings.
• How do we find out how Ireland’s breeding birds are faring?: Andrew Lynch, National Coordinator of the Countryside Bird Survey, reports on how we assess breeding bird populations across the country.
• Identifying winter auks in Irish waters: a handy guide to separating this tricky group of birds by renowned natural history author and photographer Mark Carmody.
• A centre-page spread featuring the stunning work of wildlife artist Jan E. Fisher.
• Volunteering at East Coast Nature Reserve: Seamus Bridgeman, BirdWatch Ireland’s East Coast Nature Reserve Warden, highlights some of the work carried out by volunteers to maintain this key reserve in Co. Wicklow and explains how you can help.
• If you build it, they will come: Brian O’Toole of Co. Wicklow’s Wildacres Nature Reserve fills us in on the construction of a new wildlife tower, the first of its kind in Ireland.
• Wildlife gardening: Cóilín MacLochlainn interviews broadcaster and Trinity College Dublin Biodiversity Officer Collie Ennis about his unique upland garden.
• Branching Out: our regular round-up of the activities of BirdWatch Ireland’s volunteer-led branches around the country.
• Stephen McAvoy brings us the Rare Bird News from August to December 2025.
• Malta Calling: Eva Habermann Streefkerk describes her experience as a young Irish environmentalist moving abroad to work at a nature reserve run by BirdLife Malta, our fellow BirdLife International Partner.
• Ground-nesting birds in gravest danger: Barry McMahon, Associate Professor at the School of Agriculture and Food Science in University College Dublin, outlines why ground-nesting birds are declining faster than any other avian species group across Europe.
• Lambay Puffins: research is being carried out on the important colony of Puffins on the Dublin island of Lambay to learn about their movements and feeding grounds in the Irish Sea, as Kaylin Doherty reports.
• Win a copy of The Living and the Dead by Conor W. O’Brien in our crossword competition.
• Plus lots, lots more!