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An overview of monitoring for raptors in Ireland
Pregled monitoringa populacij ptic roparic na Irskem 
Allan Mee
 Irish Raptor Study Group, Glenanaar, Ardpatrick, Kilmallock, Co. Limerick, Ireland, e–mail: allanmee@goldeneagle.ie
Ireland holds a low diversity of breeding raptors as a result of its location on 
the western edge of Europe but also due to historical persecution leading to the 
loss of at least seven species. Recolonisation by Buzzards Buteo buteo and the 
recent reintroduction of three species, Golden Eagle Aquila chrysaetos, White-
tailed Eagle Haliaeetus albicilla and Red Kite Milvus milvus, has helped redress 
such losses. Monitoring for raptors is carried out by the statutory agencies, 
NGOs and two university research groups. Decadal and semi-decadal surveys 
are undertaken nationally in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland for 
Peregrine Falcon Falco peregrinus and Hen Harriers Circus cyaneus, respectively. 
Long term monitoring projects have been established for some key species 
such as Barn Owl Tyto alba. However, some species receive little monitoring 
effort (e.g. Sparrowhawk Accipiter nisus, Merlin F. columbarius). A dedicated 
Raptor Monitoring Scheme to determine long-term population trends across a 
range of species is lacking and remains an urgent priority. Development of an 
Action Plan for raptors and/or single key species would further help identify 
priorities and raise awareness of the need of monitoring for raptors.
Key words: birds of prey, owls, monitoring, survey, Ireland
Ključne besede: ujede, sove, monitoring, popis, Irska
1. Introduction
Ireland holds perhaps the lowest diversity of raptor 
species in Europe (Table 1) in part as a result of its 
location as an island on the western edge of Europe 
but also due to the loss of several species as a result 
of centuries of human persecution and habitat loss 
(D’Arcy 1999). However, in the last few decades 
four species previously extinct have now either been 
re-established through reintroduction programmes 
(O’Toole et al. 2002) or have recolonised naturally 
(Norriss 1991), while two other species have bred 
intermittently and may re-establish themselves in the 
near future (Hillis 2008).
Perhaps due to different conservation priorities and 
the low diversity of breeding raptors, monitoring of 
raptors in Ireland has received much less attention 
than other bird groups (e.g., seabirds, wildfowl) until 
recently (see Table 1, Figure 1).
2. Main players
Statutory responsibility for raptor monitoring and 
conservation rests with the National Parks and Wildlife 
Service (NPWS) in the Republic of Ireland (RoI) and 
the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) 
in Northern Ireland. Such responsibilities include 
the designation of Special Protection Areas (SPA) for 
Birds Directive Annex I raptors within the Natura 
2000 network, the management of six National Parks 
in the RoI, some of which hold important raptor 
populations, and the enforcement of the Wildlife Act 
(1976, 2000) to protect raptor populations (see www.
npws.ie).
Two NGOs have a specific remit to monitor raptor 
populations. The Irish Raptor Study Group (IRSG) is 
a voluntary organisation solely dedicated to monitor 
and improve the conservation status of raptors in 
the RoI (IRSG 2006). The Golden Eagle Trust 
240
(GET) works to restore populations of threatened or 
previously extinct raptor species. The GET manages 
reintroduction programmes for Golden Eagles Aquila 
chrysaetos, White-tailed Eagles Haliaeetus albicilla, and 
Red Kites Milvus milvus in the RoI in collaboration 
with NPWS (O’Toole 2002, Mee 2009 & 2010). A 
third NGO, BirdWatch Ireland (BWI), the BirdLife 
International partner in the RoI, is dedicated to the 
conservation of Irish birds and has recently established 
a Raptor Conservation Project. BWI established a long 
term monitoring programme for Barn Owls Tyto alba 
in 2006 and has more recently initiated research and 
monitoring of Long-eared Owl Asio otus, Kestrel Falco 
tinnunculus and Merlin F. columbarius to determine 
A. Mee: An overview of monitoring for raptors in Ireland
Table 1: Summary of monitoring programmes for raptors in Ireland (including Northern Ireland)
Tabela 1: Povzetek programov monitoringa ptic roparic na Irskem (vklju~no s Severno Irsko)
Species / Vrsta
Population
Estimate/ 
Populacijska 
ocena
Project name/
Naziv projekta
Project type/ 
Vrsta projekta
Duration/ 
Trajanje
Organisation/
Organizacija
Red Kite Milvus milvus 25–30 Irish Red Kite 
reintroduction1
Reintroduction 2007–2011 GET, NPWS, 
RSPB
White-tailed Eagle 
Haliaeetus albicilla
10 Irish White-
tailed Eagle 
reintroduction2
Reintroduction 2007–2011 GET, NPWS
Marsh Harrier Circus aeruginosus 0–2 No studies IRSG
Hen Harrier Circus cyaneus 190–220 Planforbio3 Research University 
College Cork
Goshawk Accipiter gentilis 0–5 No studies D. Scott  
(in litt.)
Sparrowhawk Accipiter nisus 11,000 No studies IRSG
Buzzard Buteo buteo 3,500–4,000 Buzzard Ecology  
& Biology  
Project4
PhD/
Monitoring
2010– Queens 
University, 
IRSG
Golden Eagle Aquila chrysaetos 5–10 Irish Golden  
Eagle 
Reintroduction5
Reintroduction 2001– GET, NPWS
Kestrel Falco tinnunculus 10,000 Kestrel  
Monitoring  
Project6 
Monitoring/
Research
BWI
Merlin Falco columbarius 250+ Merlin pilot  
project7
Research 2010– BWI, NPWS
Peregrine Falcon Falco peregrinus 450–500 Wicklow/NW 
Ireland pop.  
Study8
Survey/
Research
2011 D. Clarke/
NPWS/IRSG
Barn Owl Tyto alba 400–600 Barn Owl  
Research Project9
Research 2006– BWI
Snowy Owl Bubo scandiacus 0–1 No studies IRSG
Long-eared Owl Asio otus 3,500+ LEO Monitoring 
Project10
Survey/
Monitoring
2012– BWI, NPWS
Short-eared Owl Asio flammeus 0–5 No studies
1 Co. Wicklow, Co. Down; 2 Co. Kerry; 3 Cos. Kerry, Cork, Limerick, Clare; 4 Co. Cork (IRSG), N. Ireland (Queens); 5 Co. Donegal; 6 SW Ireland; 7 Wicklow, 
Donegal, Connemara; 8 Co. Wicklow, NW Ireand; 9 SW Ireland; 10 Connemara, SW Ireland.
GET – Golden Eagle Trust; NPWS – National Parks and Wildlife Service; IRSG – Irish Raptor Study Group; BWI – BirdWatch Ireland
241
Acrocephalus 33 (154/155): 239−245, 2012
densities, trends, ecological requirements and factors 
affecting the conservation status of these populations 
(Lusby 2009, 2012a & 2012b, Lusby et al. 2010a, 
2010b, 2011, 2012a & 2012b, Fernández-Bellon 
& Lusby 2011a & 2011b, O’Cleary et al. 2012). In 
Northern Ireland, the Royal Society for the Protection 
of Birds (RSPB) manages the reintroduction program-
me for Red Kites in County Down. The Northern 
Ireland Raptor Study Group (NIRSG) is the sister 
group of the IRSG, monitoring raptors in Northern 
Ireland, especially an intensive monitoring programme 
for Peregrine Falcons F. peregrinus (Wells 2007).
Two university research teams monitor raptor 
populations. The Planforbio research team at 
University College Cork has been working on the 
ecology of Hen Harrier Circus cyaneus nesting in 
commercial forestry plantations since 2008, work 
which has informed the State forestry body, Coillte, 
of forest management possibilities for harriers (Irwin 
et al. 2008, Wilson et al. 2009 & 2012). The Quercus 
programme at Queens University, Belfast, Northern 
Ireland, has instigated studies of harriers and 
Peregrine Falcon (Ruddock 2007 & 2008), as well as 
raptor monitoring workshops (www.qub.ac.uk/sites/
Quercus). A study of the population dynamics of 
Buzzards Buteo buteo is also ongoing (Rooney 2013, 
Rooney & Montgomerie 2013).
Collaboration in monitoring for raptors is primarily 
with the UK including breeding and winter Atlas 
studies (all species including raptors), which are run 
simultaneously across Ireland and Britain (Sharrock 
1976, Lack 1986, Gibbons et al. 1993). Single species 
studies of Peregrine Falcon (Crick & Ratcliffe 1995, 
Norriss 1995, Banks et al. 2003, Madden et al. 2009) 
and Hen Harrier (Sim et al. 2001, Norriss et al. 2002, 
Barton et al. 2006, Sim et al. 2007, Ruddock et al. 
2010) have also been carried out in both regions in 
similar time periods. There is also close collaboration 
with Britain on ringing studies and activities as Irish 
ringers use rings supplied by the British Trust for 
Ornithology (BTO) and supply raptor information to 
BTO studies such as the Nest Record Scheme.
Raptor monitoring data submitted to statutory 
agencies are important in determining population 
status and trends and may form the basis for 
conservation action such as the SPA designation. 
Declining species may be added to the Red List of 
species of conservation concern and become priorities 
for conservation (Lynas et al. 2007). NGOs, such as 
the IRSG, NIRSG, GET and BWI, supply much of 
the data needed for setting conservation priorities. 
State agencies such as Coillte may use data on Hen 
Harrier to inform forest management.
3. National coverage
Apart from Atlas studies (all species), coverage for 
single species raptor surveys has been coordinated by 
NPWS/NIEA, NGOs or private consultants working 
on behalf of the statutory agencies so that populations 
in all regions are assessed (e.g. Madden et al. 2009, 
Ruddock et al. 2010). NGOs have also coordinated 
their own national surveys to determine population 
status and trends (Lusby 2012b, Mee & Clarke 
in prep.). No national scheme exists for long-term 
monitoring of raptor population trends, although 
this has been proposed by the IRSG-NIRSG to the 
statutory agencies. At present, little or no funding 
appears to be available for this programme. The 
IRSG-NIRSG provide a framework for coordinating 
raptor monitoring but, except for dedicated national 
surveys, coverage is patchy and tends to focus on 
species of interest to individuals or those that can be 
relatively easily accessed without specialist skills such 
as tree-climbing, while some of the more widespread 
and apparently common raptors (e.g. Sparrowhawk 
Figure 1: Monitoring programmes for raptors in Ireland. 
Numbers refer to project names in Table 1.
Slika 1: Programi monitoringa ptic roparic na Irskem. 
Številke ustrezajo nazivom projektov v Tabeli 1.
1,7,8
Northern
Ireland
Republic  
of Ireland
1
4
4
8
5
7
7
3 3
3
2
69 3,4
10
242
A. Mee: An overview of monitoring for raptors in Ireland
Accipiter nisus) are little monitored. Coverage also 
tends to be lowest in more remote, mountain areas.
4. Key species and key issues
The focus of monitoring for raptors to date has been 
national and regional studies of Annex I species, 
particularly Peregrine Falcon (Moore et al. 1992 
& 1997, Wells 2007) and Hen Harrier (Scott 
2000, O’Donoghue 2010) as well as local and 
regional studies of Merlin (Clarke & Scott 1994, 
McElheron 2005, Norriss et al. 2010, Fernández-
Bellon & Lusby 2011a & 2011b). Other key species 
have been those recently listed on the Red (high) 
and Amber (medium) list of birds of conservation 
concern (Lynas et al. 2007) including the recently 
reintroduced Golden Eagle and Red Kite. Breeding 
populations of the reintroduced Golden Eagle (north-
western Ireland) and Red Kite (County Wicklow) are 
comprehensively monitored by the GET using radio 
and satellite telemetry as well as public sighting of 
wing-tagged individuals (see www.goldeneagle.ie). 
White-tailed Eagles are similarly monitored, with first 
breeding in the wild expected in 2012/2013 (Mee 
2009 & 2010).
Although historically habitat loss, principally loss 
of native forest cover and wetland drainage, has had 
an undoubted effect of Irish raptor populations, 
direct human persecution has in the past caused most 
population extinctions including the loss of breeding 
Osprey, Golden Eagle Pandion haliaetus, White-tailed 
Eagle, Red Kite, Goshawk A. gentilis and Buzzard 
(D’Arcy 1999). All but Osprey have now either 
been reintroduced or recolonised to varying extents 
(Norriss 1991, Hillis 2008, Mee 2010). 
However, poisoning remains the greatest threat to 
re-establishing or maintaining populations. Between 
2007 and early 2013, of 27 White-tailed Eagles 
recovered dead, 12 were confirmed poisoned in RoI 
and another seven suspected (GET unpubl.). At least 
three Golden Eagles and 16 Red Kites have also been 
poisoned during this period. Most if not all such 
poisoning appears to be accidental, foxes and crows 
being the intended target. However, several Buzzards 
and even Peregrine Falcons have also been deliberately 
poisoned. Most recently (Sept–Dec 2011), eight Red 
Kites were recovered dead, at least six apparently due to 
rodenticide (brodifacoum) poisoning (GET unpubl.) 
to which Barn Owls in Ireland are highly susceptible 
(J. Lusby unpubl.). Following a formal complaint 
to the EU (GET 2009), the use of poisons for the 
control of foxes has been banned in the RoI (Oct 
2010). However, illegal use and misuse of substances 
remains a problem. A formal protocol for post-
mortem handling, toxicological analysis and reporting 
was established in 2011 by NPWS in collaboration 
with the Department of Agriculture and the State 
Laboratory. Rodenticides also kill Kestrel and Buzzard, 
but population level threats are unknown. Other 
threats include road (Barn Owl) and rail (Red Kite) 
collisions, e.g. 214 road mortalities in 2006–2012 
(J. Lusby pers. comm.). The recent expansion of wind 
farm developments, including some within SPAs, 
is also likely to pose a threat through displacement 
and/or collision (Scott & McHaffie 2008, Pearce-
Higgins et al. 2009). In 2011, two White-tailed 
Eagles were recovered dead due to turbine collisions 
in south-western Ireland (GET unpubl.).
No currently breeding Irish raptors are truly 
migratory, although there is evidence that some 
Hen Harriers winter as far as Western Europe (B. 
O’Donoghue in litt.). Sharing information on 
dispersal patterns might improve the conservation 
status of this species. Issues facing raptors in Ireland 
such as poisoning and windfarm collisions would 
benefit from international networking to establish 
best practice for monitoring and assessing threats to 
populations.
5. Strengths and weaknesses
Ireland is a relatively small country with a smaller 
suite of breeding raptors than most other European 
countries. Therefore it should be in a position to 
devise and implement a comprehensive monitoring 
programme. Decadal and semi-decadal national 
surveys for key species such as Peregrine Falcon 
and Hen Harrier have worked well because the 
populations have been small enough, nesting sites 
reasonably well known, or populations have been 
discrete (e.g. Madden et al. 2009, Ruddock et al. 
2010). However, such surveys are labour intensive 
and as some populations recover and expand (e.g. 
Peregrine Falcon) random selection of study areas 
will be essential. Other key species (e.g. Merlin) 
have never been surveyed on a national scale, while 
baseline data do not exist for some very rare breeders 
(e.g. Short-eared Owl Asio flammeus). Barn Owls have 
been increasingly monitored in recent years (Nagle 
2007, O’Connell et al. 2007, Lusby 2009, 2012a & 
2012b, Lusby et al. 2010a & 2010b), but little specific 
monitoring of breeding Long-eared or Short-eared 
Owl populations or their ecology has been undertaken 
(but see and Sleeman 1988, Smal 1989, Andrews 
1992, Cooke et al. 1995).
Lack of a Raptor Monitoring Scheme (RMS) to 
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Acrocephalus 33 (154/155): 239−245, 2012
determine long-term population trends across a range 
of species, including some widespread but possibly 
declining species such as Kestrel, remain a major 
weakness. International best practice and information 
sharing on appropriate monitoring schemes would be 
useful in designing a RMS.
6. Priorities, capacity-building
Establishing an island-wide RMS is a high priority. 
However, lack of funding and the small pool of 
existing raptor fieldworkers will inhibit development 
of this scheme without full time personnel to drive 
the RMS.
Semi-decadal surveys for Hen Harriers should 
be continued. Merlin needs to be monitored at an 
appropriate level on at least a semi-decadal frequency. 
High priority reintroduced raptors should continue to 
be intensively monitored at least until all populations 
are well established. Rare and little known species 
should also be targeted to establish baseline data for 
conservation. Ultimately funding will be needed to 
drive much of this effort. Where key skills are lacking, 
training workshops will be useful in upskilling 
fieldworkers and generating support for monitoring 
programmes.
Group Action Plans have been devised for suites 
of species including raptors based on ecosystem to 
identify specific conservation requirements, targets 
and the actions needed to achieve such targets (e.g. 
BirdWatch Ireland 2010). Development of an 
Action Plan for raptors or single key species would 
further help identify priorities and raise awareness of 
the need of monitoring for raptors. 
Further, the timely publication and dissemination 
of monitoring results is important not only for 
improving our knowledge of species and setting 
priorities but would also further capacity-building for 
raptors.
Acknowledgements: Thanks to the dedicated raptor 
fieldworkers who provided information on their 
monitoring and/or research projects including as yet 
unpublished data. Special thanks to Damian Clarke 
(NPWS), John Lusby (BWI), Tony Nagle (IRSG), 
and Eimear Rooney (Queens University). John Lusby 
made helpful comments on the manuscript.
7. Povzetek
Na Irskem je pestrost ptic roparic majhna, a ne zgolj 
zaradi geografske lege te države na zahodnem robu 
Evrope, marveč tudi zaradi zgodovinskega preganjanja 
teh ptic na otoku in posledično izumrtja najmanj 
sedmih vrst. Te izgube se je Irski posrečilo do neke 
mere nadomestiti z nedavno ponovno naselitvijo 
treh vrst, in sicer planinskega orla Aquila chrysaetos, 
belorepca Haliaeetus albicilla in rjavega škarnika 
Milvus milvus, medtem ko je kanja Buteo buteo 
pričela ponovno gnezditi sama. Za monitoring ptic 
roparic skrbijo različne javne agencije, nevladne 
organizacije in dve univerzitetni raziskovalni skupini. 
V Republiki Irski poteka, na primer, nacionalni 
popis sokola selca Falco peregrinus vsakih deset let, na 
Severnem Irskem pa popis pepelastega lunja Circus 
cyaneus vsakih pet let. Za nekatere ključne vrste, kakršna 
je pegasta sova Tyto alba, so bili izdelani projekti za 
njihov dolgoročni monitoring. Nekatere druge vrste, 
npr. skobec Accipiter nisus in mali sokol F. columbarius, 
pa so po drugi strani deležne komaj omembe vredne 
pozornosti. Najnujnejša prioriteta ostaja program 
temeljitega monitoringa ptic roparic, s katerim bi 
ugotavljali dolgoročne trende v arealih posameznih 
vrst. Razvoj akcijskega načrta za to skupino ptic in/
ali posamezne ključne vrste pa bi nadalje pripomogel 
k ugotavljanju prioritet in spodbujal ozaveščenost o 
potrebi stalnega spremljanja ptic roparic.
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Arrived / Prispelo: 27. 3. 2013
Accepted / Sprejeto: 1. 7. 2013