Fight or last f light for our best loved birds
The hen harrier and curlew are among the Irish species facing extinction because of our poor environmental measures. Now it’s time for a...
POORLY implemented environmental measures are helping to kill off native birds such as the much-loved hen harrier or ‘sky dancer’, whose population has plunged by a third in just seven years. The hen harrier, along with the curlew – another native ground-nesting bird that has been immortalised in Irish song, poetry and literature – are among the Irish species facing extinction unless more protective measures are taken.
It comes as the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals, a UN biodiversity treaty, published this week found many protected migratory species are at risk of disappearing, threatened by human pollution, the spread of invasive species and the climate crisis.
According to the UN’s assessment, more than a fifth of the Earth’s migratory species under international protection are threatened with extinction.
Most worryingly, it warns that almost all listed species of fish – including migratory sharks, rays and sturgeons – ‘are facing a high risk of extinction, with their populations declining by 90% since the 1970s’.
At home, concerns are growing for the survival of native bird species whose populations have declined sharply in recent years.
There were just 85 pairs of hen harriers – known as the sky dancer thanks to their extravagant airborne courtship ritual – confirmed nationwide in the latest National Parks and Wildlife Survey.
BirdWatch Ireland, An Taisce and the Environmental Pillar say the birds could be extinct in 25 years without a Government commitment to protect the bird of prey.
Niall Hatch, who is head of communications and development with BirdWatch Ireland, said the ‘shocking decline’ in their numbers is ‘mainly due to habitat destruction and misuse’, often in favour of creating more land for agriculture. He told the Irish Mail on Sunday: ‘There have been large problems with overgrazing in many areas with deer and especially with sheep.’ ‘That’s thought to be one of the reasons why in places like the Wicklow Mountains, which was a real stronghold for them 20 years ago, the species has disappeared.’ However, Mr Hatch continued that misguided or clumsy efforts to reduce carbon emissions have contributed to the decline of the hen harrier and other ground nesting species.
He said a ‘serious aspect’ of their decline has been afforestation – planting forest where there was none before – and particularly planting conifer plantations in inappropriate places.
‘The State forestry policy is really quite guilty here,’ he said. ‘We absolutely obviously need more trees in Ireland, but we don’t need trees planted in areas where trees shouldn’t be and there shouldn’t be any trees in our boglands.’
When the likes of the rapid-growing Sitka spruce are planted in bogland they fragment the habitat, causing existential risk for animals who have evolved to thrive on open ranges. Hen harriers do their own hunting in open spaces, but another ‘significant factor’ is that trees allow predators like foxes and pine martens to ‘colonise the area and hide and wait’.
‘That gives them a vantage point from which they can find the nests and get the eggs or chicks.’
Efforts to get closer to carbon neutrality by planting swathes of confers such as Sitka spruce have been widely criticised by environmentalists and residents alike.
Aside from their negative effects on biodiversity and releasing of carbon from peatlands, their rapid growth has caused issues around light in some homes. Many have accused the Government of prioritising the economic benefits of a reliable supply of timber over meaningful environmental action.
Mr Hatch said the placement of wind farms has also contributed to the downfall of species like the hen harrier. ‘BirdWatch Ireland is
‘Look out for the dance in the coming weeks’
very much in favour of renewable energy,’ he stressed. ‘But again it’s about putting wind farms in appropriate locations. Too often the areas where the hen harriers and other declining species like the curlew would depend on are seen as waste
ground areas with very little economic value.
‘In fact, they’re vital for biodiversity, but also vital carbon sinks. The policy of planting conifers in bog land is a negative thing from a carbon sequestration point of view – it releases more carbon than it captures, so it doesn’t help meet any of the targets. It’s ridiculous.’
BirdWatch Ireland has launched a ‘Save the Skydancer’ campaign, calling for protection and restoration of habitat and better supports for farmers to adjust their practices and help stem the biodiversity crisis.
Mr Hatch said the ‘absolutely beautiful’ courtship dance of the hen harrier was ‘something that a lot of people around the country in the Irish uplands and boglands would have been very familiar with in generations past’, but that ‘few people know about today’.
He encouraged people to look out for the dance in the coming weeks ahead of nesting season.
The male has ‘a lovely grey colour with black wingtips’ and the female – who looks so different they were thought to be a different species for centuries – is a ‘sort of mottled brown with a white patch on her back’. As with most birds of prey, she is larger than the male.
‘What happens with the skydancing performance is, as a sort of courtship display and to strengthen the bond between the pair, the male goes off and catches the prey – maybe a small bird or a mouse. Then he’ll fly up above the female and drop it down to her. And she’ll flip upside down and catch it with her feet upside down.
‘And then they just sort of tumble together in the air and swoop around.
‘People don’t expect birds of prey to be so graceful in the air – to do a beautiful ballet-type performance in the sky. It’s absolutely stunning.’
The curlew is ‘heading towards extinction as a breeding species’, Mr Hatch warned.
Their numbers have crashed to around 100 pairs from 10,000 in the 1980s.
‘We’re talking a colossal decline. It’s threatened with extinction not just in Ireland, but globally. We know that different species of curlew respond very badly to change and the species that was once an icon of the Irish countryside is vanishing rapidly.’
Heritage Minister and Green TD Malcolm Noonan told the MoS: ‘A draft threat response plan has been developed over a number of years in close consultation with the many stakeholders who have a role to play in ensuring that we reverse the decline of the amazing Skydancer.
‘The best way the public can support that work is by submitting their views on the plan – the public consultation is open until February 20.’
VISIT birdwatchireland.ie/ henharrier to learn more about how you can play a role in saving the hen harrier.