Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 13 July 2023
432. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the extent to which predators are an increasing threat to game birds or songbirds; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35563/23]
View answerRecently published research (including Irish research) has explored the role of generalist predators, such as the common European Red Fox, American Mink and some Corvid species, in bird population declines. Across Europe, 74% of ground-nesting bird species are in decline, and the declines for this group are greater than other bird species. There is little evidence that predators are limiting populations of pigeons, woodpeckers and passerines (including songbirds), however. On the other hand, there is evidence to suggest that ground-nesting seabirds, breeding waders and gamebirds can be limited by predation.
It is important to note that even for the latter species groups; predation is not the ultimate cause of declines. The influence of anthropogenic pressures and threats on our farmed, grassland, upland, peatland, coastal, marine and freshwater habitats, over the past several decades, have precipitated in changes to these habitats, including reduced suitability and extent for those aforementioned ground-nesting bird species.
See the publications below for further details.
Roos, S., Smart, J., Gibbons, D.W., and Wilson, J.D. (2018) A review of predation as a limiting factor for bird populations in mesopredator-rich landscapes: a case study of the UK. Biological Reviews. Cambridge Philosophical Society.
McMahon, B.J., Doyle, S., Gray, A., Kelly, S.B.A. and Redpath, S.M. (2020) European bird declines: Do we need to rethink approaches to the management of abundant generalist predators? Journal of Applied Ecology, 57(10): 1885–1890
cdr.eionet.europa.eu/Converters/run_conversion?file=ie/eu/art12/envxztxxq/IE_birds_reports_20191031-130157.xml&conv=612&source=remote#A644_B
