Action Plans for Birds

With a mild Atlantic climate and varied habitats, NI has a rich and exciting bird population.

Check out the coast at Belfast Lough, The Foyle or Portrush and see a great range of birds from ducks to divers and cliff nesting species.

Belfast, Londonderry and other towns and villages maintain a good population of urban birds including the house sparrow, in decline elsewhere in the UK.

However, some of our breeding and wintering birds have populations which are threatened in other parts of their ranges and may be in decline in Northern Ireland.

These have been listed as NI Priority Species, some of which have published Species Action Plans.

A major population of the Light-bellied Brent goose flies a vast distance from the far north of Canada to winter around our shores. Thousands off these birds gather at Strangford Lough and many bird watchers eagerly await the arrival of this very neat, compact goose.

Visitors from the far north on Strangford Lough

While it is important to make sure the breeding population is not threatened we have an obligation to maintain the best conditions for the Light-bellied Brent goose during its stay on the Foyle, Strangford and Carlingford Loughs.

The NI Species Action Plan for the Light-bellied Brent Goose (.PDF 61Kb) is a guide to ensuring that we continue to experience the spectacle of this goose arriving on our shores each year.

The skylark is one of seven species associated with farmland which have a Northern Ireland species action plan. The decline in our skylark population, while not as severe as in the UK is still alarming.

Farmers have a crucial role in achieving the targets of the plans for the Skylark (.PDF 89 Kb) and other farmland birds through uptake of Northern Ireland Countryside Management Schemes which benefit these species.

Listen to the Skylark spring concert at Divis Mt. National Trust Nature Reserve

Read other Northern Ireland Species Action Plans for Birds:

• Hen harrier (.PDF 66Kb)
• Chough & Curlew (.PDF 1.33Mb)
• Redshank (.PDF 62Kb)
• Lapwing (.PDF 62 Kb)
• Roseate Tern (.PDF 45Kb)
• Red Grouse (.PDF 90Kb)
• Barn Owl (.PDF 78 Kb)
• Yellowhammer (.PDF 48Kb)
• Twite (.PDF 85 Kb)
• House Sparrow (.PDF 80Kb)
• Tree Sparrow(.PDF 76Kb)
• And the All-Ireland plan for Corncrake(.PDF 93Kb).