Small changes helping to save some of Dublin's rarest birds from extinction
A small team of dedicated volunteers are doing everything they can to protect vulnerable seabirds in Dublin .
In advance of Dublin Climate Action Week , Chair of BirdWatch Ireland’s Fingal branch Paul Lynch met with Dublin Live to discuss their ongoing conservation work, particularly the fight to protect the endangered Little Tern at Portrane Beach. With chicks facing threats that include predators, high tides, and human interference, Paul highlighted the importance of protecting the area, as today Portrane is one of the few remaining breeding sites for these birds in Ireland.
Due to unique nesting behaviour, Little Terns are a species at risk of extinction . But since 2018, the Portrane Little Tern Project has shown it is possible to turn things around, as every year since the project began the Terns have successfully fledged chicks.
Paul pointed out that the Little Terns are very vulnerable to disturbance and said they work very hard all year to protect them. These birds migrate to Dublin from April to late August and, even with many different protections in place, 2025 still saw them lose 53 eggs and chicks lost to predation and tides at Portrane.
BirdWatch Ireland includes volunteers who assist with the protection of birds and wildlife, with Paul stating he first got involved in the early 1990s. As a lifelong lover of birds, he said it’s fascinating to observe their “antics” and all the interesting ways they behave. “When you’re studying birds there is always something new to learn,” he said.
Highlighting the huge number of seabirds across Dublin’s coast, Paul said Lambay Island is home to approximately 40,000 birds and that people would be shocked to learn about just how many different varieties nest on the island. “They spend most of the winter out at sea and then they all come into places like this to breed and raise their young,” he said.
In Skerries at Rockabill there are around 3,000 pairs of Tern nests, with Paul stating the Roseate Tern that makes up 1,800 RoseateTerns and 1,200 common. This is Europe’s rarest Tern and around 90% of the European population breed there.
Paul believes that Ireland has been blessed with an incredible variety of seabirds with many great locations for them to breed. However, when looking at BirdWatch Ireland’s traffic light system for conservation, it’s clear that many are in danger and require extra protection.
“If the population is stable or increasing it is green. If it is moderately in decline it is amber. If it's seriously declined, it is in red,” he said. There are currently 24 seabird species that breed in Ireland, with Paul stating that just one species is categorised as green, four are in the red, and all of the rest are classified as amber.
He said the conservation efforts for Roseate Terns is a great example of the work of BirdWatch Ireland in action. Paul explained that they were down to just 300 pairs in the early 1990s, but thanks to the assistance of full time wardens and nest boxes they are able to offer them an opportunity to nest with a lower risk of predation.
“That’s been a highly successful venture thanks to the leadership of BirdWatch Ireland. It’s brilliant. A lot of hard work but when you see that it is great to see,” he said.
There’s been a noticeable uptake in interest around birdlife since the pandemic according to Paul, who said that the quiet of lockdown allowed people to take a moment and notice all the nature around them. “With no noise from traffic, people heard that bird song and got interested, and since then we noticed a lot more people at our talks and walks,” he said.
Now that Portrane has been identified as an important area for Little Terns, Paul said the community has become far more engaged and aware of their conservation needs. “The fact we are fencing off the area now and engaging with the public all of a sudden people realise. Every year when we are setting up, locals ask how we are getting on and if the birds are back,” he said.
For all the volunteer work being done, Paul said it’s important that this is backed up by genuine government action, which isn’t always the case. Just last week, the European Commission opened infringement proceedings against Ireland for failure to fulfil its obligations under two environmental directives, including renewable-energy projects that can impact birds' habitat.
Paul cited windfarms as a prime example of the kinds of projects that can only proceed with birdlife in mind. “We can’t put up windfarms without knowing where they can go and where they can’t,” he said.
He stressed the importance of understanding bird habitats because often “when they are gone they are gone” and “it’s very difficult to get the birds back.” “We need windfarms, we need renewable energy, but we can’t just plant them in the middle of an important area,” he said.
Over the past number of years, BirdWatch Ireland has been identifying designated Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBAs), with the government committing to protecting 30% of its land and marine territory. “So far, we are only at 10%, so there is a lot of work still to be done for the government to protect these areas,” Paul said.
People should also be aware of the impact they can personally have an impact on conservation efforts, with Paul pointing out some birds travel as far as Arctic Canada to spend the winter in Ireland and observers might not realise how vulnerable they are.
“They lose a lot of body weight to get here. They have to refuel and survive the winter before they migrate back,” he said.
“If you see a bunch of birds sitting on the beach and a dog comes and chases them, people think nothing of it. But those birds are trying to conserve energy, rest, or feed on the beach. It’s important not to disturb them.
“Some have to go huge distances, like the Bar-tailed Godwit. There’s a population in Alaska that fly to New Zealand to spend the winter and they are flying non-stop for 13 days. Their whole digestive system shuts down, shrinks, and they build up the body reserve to fly non-stop for that amount of time.
“Some birds can’t land and they just have to keep going. If they run out of energy, they go into the water and that’s it.”
Even those who wish to offer bird's a helping hand through birdfeeders in their gardens can be doing more hard than good, as a recent statement from BirdWatch Ireland advised people don't feed birds during the summer months due to potential spread of a disease called trichomoniasis. “Some people continue feeding birds during the summer, but they are well capable of feeding themselves," Paul explained.
"There are caterpillars and all sorts of insects that they can raise their young on. It is really just during the cold spells that birds need some helping out. Disease can be spread through the feeders.
"If you don’t have a regular cleaning, and you really should be cleaning them once a week, empty out the old feed, just give them a thorough clean, or they’ll be disease; particularly Greenfinches that have been hit hard by this disease. It is easily spread through the feeders. People fill up their feeder every week, and they don’t clean it."
For those interested in learning more about Dublin’s birdlife, Paul will be discussing Seabirds and Marine Protected Areas at Baldoyle Library on May 12 from 6:30pm-7:30pm as part of Dublin Climate Action Week 2026. This discussion will focus on a few selected species, their colonies, and current conservation efforts for their protection. For more information on Dublin birdlife, visit birdwatchireland.ie
This content is funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme