Donegal's whooper swan population more than doubles

Donegal’s whooper swan population has more than doubled in five years, a census of the bird in Ireland shows.
A census carried out across the island of Ireland last year which was coordinated by Birdwatch Ireland shows the highest total ever recorded in Ireland and represents a 27% increase in the whooper swan population since the previous census in 2015.
Donegal had 1,159 whooper swans for the census, more than double what it had in the previous census in 2015.
The figures mean Donegal has the fourth largest population in the Republic of Ireland and the fifth largest over the whole island.
Lough Swilly is supporting internationally important numbers and there are also significant numbers on Lough Foyle and the river Foyle.
There were another 25 or so locations around Donegal where Whoopers were recorded.
“In general it’s a very important county in a national context for our wintering migratory swans, geese and other waterbirds too,” Brian Burke of BirdWatch Ireland, who coordinated the survey in the Republic, said.
A total of 19,111 Whooper Swans were recorded, 14,467 in the Republic of Ireland and 4,644 in Northern Ireland.
In total, 550 flocks were recorded in Ireland, with largest numbers in counties Offaly, Galway, Roscommon and Donegal in the Republic and Derry and Antrim in Northern Ireland.
“Our whooper swans breed in Iceland during the summer and spend the winter in Ireland and Britain. Results from previous censuses had indicated that the Irish-wintering population of whooper swans was starting to plateau – growth had slowed, and numbers were largely stable in recent censuses, so we really weren’t expecting this level of increase,” Mr Burke said.
“They’re a species that is deep-rooted in Irish mythology, and still today they really captivate people right across the country when they arrive in the autumn, so we’re delighted to see them doing so well.”
The eighth International Swan Census took place in January 2020. The census 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.

"The recorded increase in the Irish whooper swan population is really encouraging. For a species like whoopers to do well, conditions across its migratory range must be right. The census results suggest that conditions for whooper swans in both Ireland and Iceland, where they breed, are very suitable”, said Seán Kelly, waterbird ecologist with the National Parks and Wildlife Service. “

"We are grateful to all the volunteers across the country who participated in the swan census; without them, it simply wouldn’t be possible to so carefully monitor these species”.