Whooper swan numbers high in Derry and Donegal

The census took place in January 2020 and is carried out over a single weekend every five years, where ornithologists and birdwatchers across Ireland set out to locate and count every Whooper Swan and Bewick’s Swan in the country.

Donegal had 1,159 Whooper Swans during the census – more than double what it had in the previous census in 2015.

There were 1,478 Whoopers in Derry during the census, which again was more than double what there was in 2015.

Brian Burke, Scientific Officer, Surveys and Monitoring Team Birdwatch Ireland said it’s possible that weather around the census dates ‘played a part in the increases being so large in those counties on the north coast.’

“Derry had the third largest total of any county, behind Offaly and Galway, and Donegal had the 5th highest (Roscommon was 4th).

“In terms of specific locations – Lough Neagh (spread across five counties) had the highest total of any site in Ireland (1,420), Lough Foyle (Derry and Donegal) had 890, Lough Beg (Derry, Antrim) had 868, Lough Swilly (Donegal) had 487 and River Foyle (Donegal, Derry, Tyrone) had 416 Whoopers.

“Each of these sites had more than 1% of what we call the ‘flyway population’ (i.e. all of the Whoopers in this part of the world, so we say that they ‘supported internationally important numbers’.”

Nearly 300 volunteer birdwatchers, as well as staff from BirdWatch Ireland and the National Parks and Wildlife Service, took part in the census, checking over 1,500 locations across the island of Ireland.

A total of 19,111 Whooper Swans were recorded, 14,467 in the Republic of Ireland and 4,644 in Northern Ireland.

This is the highest total ever recorded in Ireland and represents a 27% increase in the Whooper Swan population since the previous census in 2015.