Fauna of Ireland

The fauna of Ireland comprises all the animal species inhabiting the island of Ireland and its surrounding waters.

Summary

This table uses figures supplied by the National Parks and Wildlife Service.

Vertebrates by class

Mammals

Only 26 land mammal species (including bats, but not including marine mammals) are native to Ireland, because it has been isolated from the European mainland (by rising sea levels after the Midlandian Ice Age), since about 14,000 BC.Costello, M.J. and Kelly, K.S., 1993 ''Biogeography of Ireland: past, present and future'' Irish Biogeographic Society Occasional Publications Number 2Edwards, Robin & al.
The Island of Ireland: Drowning the Myth of an Irish Land-bridge?
Accessed 15 February 2013.
Some species, such as the red fox, European hedgehog, stoat, otter, pygmy shrew, and badger are common, whereas others, like the Irish hare, red deer, and pine marten are less common and generally seen only in certain national parks and nature reserves around the island. Some introduced species have become thoroughly naturalised, e.g. the European rabbit, grey squirrel, bank vole, and brown rat. In addition, ten species of bat are found in Ireland.

Megafaunal extinctions

In the Ice Age (which included warm spells), mammals such as the woolly mammoth, muskox, wild horse, giant deer, brown bear, spotted hyena, cave lion, Arctic lemming, Norway lemming, Arctic fox, European beaver, wolf, Eurasian lynx, and reindeer flourished or migrated depending on the degree of coldness. The Irish brown bear was a genetically distinct (clade 2) brown bear from a lineage that had significant polar bear mtDNA. The closest surviving brown bear is Ursus arctos middendorffi in Alaska. Excavations of Barbary macaque remains indicate the species was artificially brought to Ireland at some point in the past.

Reptiles

Only one land reptile is native to the country, the viviparous lizard. It is common in national parks, particularly in the Wicklow Mountains. Slowworms are common in parts of The Burren area in County Clare, but they are not a native species and were probably introduced in the 1970s. Five marine turtle species appear regularly off the west coast, the leatherback, green, hawksbill, loggerhead, and Kemp's ridley, but they very rarely come ashore.

Legend attributes the absence of snakes in Ireland to Saint Patrick, who is said to have banished them from the island, chasing them into the sea after they assailed him during a 40-day fast he was undertaking on top of a hill. In reality, no species of snake ever inhabited Ireland, due to it losing its land-bridge to Britain before snakes came north after the Ice Age.

Amphibians

Three amphibians are found in Ireland, the common European brown frog, the smooth newt, and the natterjack toad. There are questions over whether the frog is actually native to Ireland, with some historic accounts stating that the frog was introduced in the 18th century. The natterjack toad is only found in a few localised sites in County Kerry and western County Cork. For atlases see Atlases of the flora and fauna of Britain and Ireland. It reached Ireland sometime after the ice age.

Birds

About 400 bird species have been recorded in Ireland. Many of these species are migratory. There are Arctic birds, which come in the winter, and birds such as the swallow, which come from Africa in the summer to breed. Many birds which are common residents in Britain and continental Europe are rare or unusual in Ireland, examples include the tawny owl, willow tit, marsh tit, nuthatch, and all woodpecker species except the recently established great spotted woodpecker. These are birds which do not move great distances and their absence may be due to Ireland's early isolation, but also Ireland's mild weather means early breeding and choice of best habitats which gives residents an advantage over visitors.

Although Ireland has fewer breeding species than Britain and Continental Europe (because there are fewer habitat types, fewer deciduous woodlands, Scots pine forests, heaths, and high mountain ranges), there are important populations of species that are in decline elsewhere. Storm petrels (largest breeding numbers in the world), roseate tern, chough, and corncrake. Four species of bird have Irish subspecies. These are the coal tit (''Parus ater hibernicus''), dipper (''Cinclus cinclus hibernicus''), jay (''Garrulus glandarius hibernicus''), and red grouse ('' Lagopus lagopus hibernicus'').

The wren, robin, blackbird, and common chaffinch are the most widespread species, occurring in 90% of the land area. These and the rook, starling, great tit, and blue tit are among the most numerous and commonly seen. Over the period 1997–2007, populations of pigeons, warblers, tits, finches, and buntings have remained stable or shown an increase (there were massive declines during the 1970s). Kestrel, swift, skylark, and mistle thrush have continued to decline due to changes in agricultural practices such as increased use of pesticides and fertiliser. Climate change has also played a role.Coombes, R. H.et al., 2009 ''Countryside Bird Survey'' 1998-2007. BirdWatch Ireland Unpublished Report Publications Number 2
For atlases see Atlases of the flora and fauna of Britain and Ireland

Ireland has a rich marine avifauna, with many large seabird colonies dotted around its coastline such as those on the Saltee Islands, Skellig Michael, and the Copeland Islands. Also of note are golden eagles, recently reintroduced after decades of extinction (Golden Eagle Reintroduction Programme in County Donegal). Another conservation effort is habitat management to encourage the red-necked phalarope.

South-eastern Wexford is an important site for birds - the north side of Wexford Harbour, the North Slob

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