BirdWatch Ireland (BWI) is a voluntary conservation organisation and registered charity devoted to the conservation and protection of wild birds and their habitats in

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

. It was formerly known as the Irish Wildbird Conservancy (IWC). Irish Wildbird Conservancy was founded in 1968, among others by Major Robert (Robin) Ruttledge, an Irish ornithologist who became its first president. BWI has over 15,000 active members and supporters, and a network of 30 branches actively promoting the importance of birds and habitats, and general conservation issues. It publishes the annual journal '' Irish Birds'' and the quarterly magazine ''Wings''. It manages a number of nature reserves including Little Skellig. BirdWatch Ireland is a member of the Irish Environmental Network, the Sustainable Water Network (SWAN), Environmental (Ecological) NGOs Core Funding Ltd (EENGO), Working and Educating for Biodiversity (WEB) and the Irish Uplands Forum (IUF). They also work closely with the Irish National Biodiversity Data Centre in providing wildlife monitoring data.

Controversy

The

Charities Regulator The Charities Regulator () is the operational name of the Charities Regulatory Authority, the statutory authority responsible for the regulation of charities in Ireland. The organisation is made up of a board, with four sub-committees, and as o ...

reported in November 2022 that there had been misuse of funds and inadequate internal controls. This followed revelations that the organisation had misspent restricted funds designated for specific projects on general expenditure including repairs to the chief executive's wife's car.

Activities and programmes

BirdTrack

BirdTrack BirdTrack is an online citizen science website, operated by the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) on behalf of a partnership of the BTO, the RSPB, BirdWatch Ireland, the Scottish Ornithologists' Club and the Welsh Ornithological Society (). I ...

is an online

citizen science The term citizen science (synonymous to terms like community science, crowd science, crowd-sourced science, civic science, participatory monitoring, or volunteer monitoring) is research conducted with participation from the general public, or am ...

website, operated by the

British Trust for Ornithology The British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) is an organisation founded in 1932 for the study of birds in the British Isles. The William, Prince of Wales, Prince of Wales has been patron since October 2020. History Beginning In 1931 Max Nicholson ...

(BTO) on behalf of a partnership of the BTO, the

RSPB The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) is a Charitable_organization#United_Kingdom, charitable organisation registered in Charity Commission for England and Wales, England and Wales and in Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator, ...

, BirdWatch Ireland, the

Scottish Ornithologists' Club The Scottish Ornithologists' Club (SOC) is a Scottish ornithological body, founded in March 1936 at the premises of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society. As of 2008, the SOC has 2,200 members. The Club runs the Scottish Birds Records Committe ...

and the Welsh Ornithological Society ().

Garden Bird Survey

The Garden Bird Survey (GBS) is one of BirdWatch Ireland's most popular volunteer surveys which receives over 1,000 submissions annually when it takes place between December and February.

Report on declining Irish bird populations

The organization released the ''Irish Wetland Bird Survey'' in the 1990s, when there were 1.2 million wintering waterbirds in Ireland. A recent analysis in April 2019 put the number at 760,000."Wintering waterbirds in decline across Ireland"
'' Green News'', published 4/3/2019 In July 2019, Birdwatch Ireland reported that the Irish bird population was in "dramatic" decline, with 40 percent of the country's waterbirds, or half a million, lost in the prior 20 years. Loss of habitat was cited as the reason for the decline."Irish bird population in ‘dramatic’ decline, Oireachtas committee to hear"
''

The Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It was launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is Ireland's leading n ...

'', Jack Horgan-Jones, published 2/2/2019 Other reasons were

climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...

s, agriculture, hedge cutting, pollution, and the burning of scrub. Birdwatch Ireland called for Citizens' Assembly to examine the

biodiversity loss Biodiversity loss happens when plant or animal species disappear completely from Earth (extinction) or when there is a decrease or disappearance of species in a specific area. Biodiversity loss means that there is a reduction in Biodiversity, b ...

."Birdwatch call for examination of biodiversity loss"
''

RTÉ (; ; RTÉThe É in RTÉ is pronounced as an English E () and not an Irish É ()) is an Irish public service broadcaster. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on television, radio and online. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, ...

'', published 7/2/2019 One of every five Irish bird species assessed in the survey was threatened with extinction."Legislative changes have ‘weakened protections’ for breeding birds, TDs told"
''

Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It was launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is Ireland's leading n ...

'', published 7/2/2019

Lapwing Lapwings (subfamily Vanellinae) are any of various ground-nesting birds (Family (biology), family Charadriidae) akin to plovers and dotterels. They range from in length, and are noted for their slow, irregular wingbeats in flight and a shrill, ...

numbers, according to Birdwatch Ireland, were down 67% in twenty years."Bird populations collapse: Today's warning"
''

Irish Examiner The ''Irish Examiner'', formerly ''The Cork Examiner'' and then ''The Examiner'', is an Republic of Ireland, Irish national daily newspaper which primarily circulates in the Munster region surrounding its base in Cork (city), Cork, though it is ...

'', published 7/3/2019 It also said there had been an "almost complete extermination" of farmland birds, for example the

corncrake The corn crake, corncrake or landrail (''Crex crex'') is a bird in the Rallidae, rail family. It breeds in Europe and Asia as far east as western China, and bird migration, migrates to Africa for the Northern Hemisphere's winter. It is a medium ...

."Bird populations suffering serious decline - Birdwatch Ireland"
''

'', David Murphy, published 7/2/2019 The

curlew The curlews () are a group of nine species of birds in the genus ''Numenius'', characterised by their long, slender, downcurved bills and mottled brown plumage. The English name is imitative of the Eurasian curlew's call, but may have been infl ...

was reported on the verge of extinction in Ireland, with only 150 pairs remaining. In the 1960s, 5,000 pairs had been reported."Irish bird numbers 'dramatically' declining with some species facing extinction"
'' The Journal'', published 2/2/2019

Reserves Managed by BirdWatch Ireland

* East Coast Nature Reserve, Co. Wicklow * Kilcoole, Co. Wicklow * Wexford Wildfowl Reserve, Co. Wexford * Capel Island & Knockadoon Head, Co. Cork * Cuskinny Marsh, Co. Cork * Sheskinmore Lough, Co. Donegal * Rogerstown, Co. Dublin * Shenick Island, Co. Dublin * Bullock Island, Co. Offaly * Bishop's Island, Co. Galway * Small Wood, Co Galway * Little Skellig, Co. Kerry * Puffin Island, Co. Kerry * Illaunmaistir, Co. Mayo * Termoncarragh Lake, Co. Mayo * Termoncarragh Meadows, Co. Mayo * Annagh Marsh, Co. Mayo

References

External links

BWI Home Page
{{authority control Environmental organisations based in Ireland Ornithological organizations Bird conservation organizations BirdLife partners Animal welfare organisations based in the Republic of Ireland