BirdWatch Ireland said it’s still not too late for Donegal people to help monitor the health of the country’s populations by counting the birds visiting their garden over the winter.
Ireland’s longest-running and most popular citizen science survey, the Irish Garden Bird Survey, commenced on December 1 and runs until the end of February. Taking part is free and simple, yet impactful, as all participants contribute to a crucial body of data that will help to inform monitoring and research into bird populations and environmental change.
Last year’s survey, which saw over 1,600 households across the country participating.
The winter of 24/25 had its challenges in the forms of Storm Darragh and Storm Éowyn, but garden bird numbers stayed remarkably resilient. The percentage of gardens visited by the top ten species stayed more or less the same as in the previous three winters. The Robin remained on top as the most commonly recorded garden bird (present in 95% of gardens across Ireland), followed closely by the Blackbird (94%) and the Blue Tit (89%).
All species within the top 10 remained the same as during the previous winter; however, some rankings saw a bit of musical chairs: the Magpie climbed to 4th place, nudging the Great Tit down to 5th. Chaffinch and House Sparrow also swapped spots, with the former climbing to 6th and the latter falling to 7th. Starling edged past Goldfinch to clinch 8th place, while the small but mighty Wren remained reliably in 10th spot.
To learn more about the survey and to get involved, see here: https://birdwatchireland.ie/our-work/surveys-research/research-surveys/irish-garden-bird-survey/
Fresh call for Donegal volunteers for Irish Garden Bird winter survey was last modified: February 18th, 2026 by Staff Writer
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