Countryside Bird Survey : Status and Trends of Common and Widespread Breeding Birds 1998-2016
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2019-12Author:
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Lesley Lewis, Dick Coombes, Brian Burke, John O'Halloran, Alyn Walsh, David Tierney, Sinéad Cummins, 'Countryside Bird Survey : Status and Trends of Common and Widespread Breeding Birds 1998-2016', [report], National Parks and Wildlife Service. Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, 2019-12, Irish wildlife manuals, No.115, 2019Download Item:
Abstract:
The Countryside Bird Survey (CBS) is an annual survey that tracks the breeding populations of Ireland’s common and widespread birds. This on-going survey is underpinned by the efforts of around 200 field surveyors, mostly volunteers, making it one of Ireland’s best examples of a citizen science project which tracks ecological changes in our environment. The volunteers’ survey effort is supplemented to a significant degree by both BirdWatch Ireland and National Parks and Wildlife Service staff. The survey, which started in 1998, aims to measure changes in bird numbers in a random selection of approximately 300 1 km square sample plots surveyed from year to year. This level of sustained coverage ensures that all common and widespread breeding species are surveyed across a wide range of habitats and geographical locations. CBS is funded by the National Parks and Wildlife Service and coordinated by the CBS Office based at BirdWatch Ireland. The collection, analyses and reporting of robust data are an integral part of sound conservation management. CBS data was the primary evidence base that informed Ireland’s reporting obligations under Article 12 of the Birds Directive for over 50 of Ireland’s breeding bird species for the period 2013 – 2018. On a more frequent basis CBS species trend data is used to produce a Common Bird Index and Farmland Bird Index for Ireland and through the Pan-European Common Bird Monitoring Scheme, these data contribute to similar indices at the European scale. The majority of terrestrial birds that breed in the Irish countryside are present all year, but the CBS also monitors those migrants (including warblers and hirundines) that arrive in spring from sub-Saharan wintering grounds to breed in Ireland. It should be noted here that some bird species that were once more common and widespread across the Irish countryside are not included here. Such species include Lapwing, Curlew and Grey Partridge, which have become too restricted in their distribution and are too scarce for CBS models to provide accurate monitoring data. This current report provides an update on the population estimates and trends of common and widespread breeding birds in Ireland for the period 1998-2016 using data primarily from CBS, but also from the most recent Bird Atlas (2007-2011). Detailed accounts are provided for 52 bird species considered adequately covered by CBS. Updated population estimates are provided for each species, in addition to the 10-year (2006-2016) and 18-year (1998-2016) trends in abundance. Over the 18-year period since CBS began, population trend analyses indicate that 37% of species are increasing, almost a third of species are stable and approximately 30% of our common and widespread birds are in decline. The most pronounced of these declines are those of Grey Wagtail, Stock Dove, Swift, Greenfinch and Kestrel. However, some bird species’ populations have increased during this period particularly Blackcap, Goldfinch, Redpoll, Collared Dove and Chiffchaff. This report also looks at the long-term (i.e. since 1970 approximately) changes in the distributions of our common and widespread birds. For example, species’ trends in breeding distributions since the early 1970s indicate that 42 of the 52 species examined exhibited stable and or increasing distributions, while ten species have shown declines; the largest declines were observed for Stock Dove, Yellowhammer and Swift. The report concludes with an assessment of the current pressures and threats facing Ireland’s common and widespread breeding birds. Relevant to the current Article 12 reporting period of 2013 – 2018, only one high level pressure and threat was identified and relates to the Trichomonas gallinae parasite linked to the severe decline in Greenfinch numbers since it was first recorded in Ireland over 10 years ago. Additional pressures and threats determined to be at the moderate scale, were identified in relation to: agriculture and forestry, which include inter alia changes to grazing and grassland management and the use of pesticides; development (e.g. loss of traditional nesting habitats of Swift), and climate change.
Author: Lewis, Lesley; Coombes, Dick; Burke, Brian; O'Halloran, John; Walsh, Alyn; Tierney, David; Cummins, Sinéad
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Ireland. National Parks and Wildlife ServicePublisher:
National Parks and Wildlife Service. Department of Culture, Heritage and the GaeltachtType of material:
reportCollections
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Breeding birds, Bird survey, Countryside birds, Land management, Irish Countryside Bird Survey (CBS), BirdWatch IrelandISSN:
13936670Metadata
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