Badgers in the wild rarely exceed six years in age but maximum life expectancy up to 14 years.
They have a stocky powerful body with relatively short legs and a short tail. The distinctive head is white with two black stripes through the eyes from the muzzle to the ears. Body appears grey overall but it’s actually black and white hairs.
Litter size usually 2-3 cubs, born late January through to early March.
Their diet consists of crane fly larvae, moth larvae, wasps, bees, frogs and earthworms, but they will take all manner of invertebrates, small vertebrates, and a variety of plant food.
Badgers have a wide variety of habitat types, but generally associated with pasture, woodland, scrub or hedgerow. They do occur in urban areas also, where foraging is available and disturbance is minimal.
A badger lives in a sett. Some can possess 300m of tunnel and 20 or more chambers.
Badgers in the wild rarely exceed six years in age but maximum life expectancy up to 14 years.
Badgers are protected under the Wildlife Acts (Wildlife Act, 1976; Wildlife Amendment Act, 2000), and in Northern Ireland under the Wildlife (N.I.) Order of 1985. Also protected under Appendix III of the Berne Convention.
Watch our Wildlife Wednesday Video here for more fun facts
Their lifespan is 4 years, the oldest recorded was 15 years.
They are a honey colour on top and very white underneath, with a beautiful heart-shaped face and long legs. Unlike the long-eared owl and the short-eared owl, the barn owl has no ear tufts at all.
The barn owl likes to live near woodlands, ditches and farmlands. You will only see them at dusk when they are busy hunting for mice, rats, frogs or small birds.
As it flies above its prey the large, heart-shaped facial disc acts like a mini satellite dish, channelling the slightest sound to the bird’s extremely sensitive ears.
They swallow their prey whole. The indigestible parts – fur, bones and teeth – are regurgitated sometime later as large, blackish pellets that accumulate at nesting and roosting sites.
Often, they will stay with their partner for life.
The barn owl will be familiar to many as the signature bird of RTE’s flagship Friday night programme, “The Late Late Show”.
They nest in old barns, outbuildings, church spires and in holes in old trees.
The lay four to seven eggs from April to early May. Young owlets are hungry creatures and by the time they fledge some nine to twelve weeks later each owlet is capable of consuming the equivalent of a dozen mice per night.
A family of barn owls are extremely effective (and free) form of rodent control.
This is undoubtedly one of Ireland’s most striking birds, but unfortunately the Barn Owl’s ghostly silhouette and its characteristic rasping shriek are becoming increasingly scarce in Ireland.
Listen to the unmistakable screech of the barn owl here
Those aren't dragon claws—they're gooseneck barnacles! These filter feeders are found in the rocky tide pools of Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary. Their shells are made up of multiple white plates that help protect them from predators and from drying out.
Of the more than 1,400 species of barnacles found in the world’s waterways, the most common ones are called acorn barnacles. As anyone who’s ever maintained a vessel knows, removing barnacles requires some elbow grease (or a pressure washer). That's why some boaters call them by their slang name: "crusty foulers."
How do barnacles stick to the undersides of vessels, to other sea life, to each other, and to pretty much anything they come in contact with? They secrete a fast-curing cement that is among the most powerful natural glues known, with a tensile strength of 5,000 pounds per square inch and an adhesive strength of 22-60 pounds per square inch. The glue is so strong that researchers are trying to figure out how it can be used commercially.
Barnacles like places with lots of activity, like underwater volcanos and intertidal zones, where they reside on sturdy objects like rocks, pilings, and buoys. Moving objects like boat and ship hulls and whales are particularly vulnerable to the pesky critters. Large barnacle colonies cause ships to drag and burn more fuel, leading to significant economic and environmental costs. The U.S. Navy estimates that heavy barnacle growth on ships increases weight and drag by as much as 60 percent, resulting in as much as a 40 percent increase in fuel consumption!
Barnacles feed through feather-like appendages called cirri. As the cirri rapidly extend and retract through the opening at the top of the barnacle, they comb the water for microscopic organisms. They quickly withdraw into their protective shells if they sense a potential threat. Barnacles secrete hard calcium plates that completely encase them. A white cone made up of six calcium plates forms a circle around the crustacean. Four more plates form a "door" that the barnacle can open or close, depending on the tide. When the tide goes out, the barnacle closes up shop to conserve moisture. As the tide comes in, a muscle opens the door so the feathery cirri can sift for food.
The basking shark is one of the Earth’s giants. Scientifically known as Cetorhinus maximus, the basking shark is the second-largest living shark, behind the whale shark. It is one of three passive sharks that eat plankton by filter feeding. The other two plankton feeders are whale sharks and megamouth sharks.
Basking sharks used to travel the world’s oceans in great numbers, but those numbers have been declining steadily for decades and continue to drop. Despite their historical prevalence in the world’s oceans, modern scientists know very little about this gentle giant of the sea.
An average adult basking shark weighs a whopping 10,200 pounds and grows to an average length of 26 feet. The largest ever recorded basking shark was caught in a fisherman’s net in the Bay of Fundy in Canada in 1851. It measured 40.3 feet. No one could weigh it at that time, but it’s guessed the basking shark weighed 45,800 pounds.
Basking sharks are often mistaken for great white sharks. The most significant difference is the basking shark’s massive jaw, measuring more than 3 feet. They also have long gill slits that encircle their entire heads, which they use to feed with the help of hundreds of gill rakers. Typically the basking shark is much longer and thinner than great whites and have smaller eyes.
The Bernese Mountain Dog is an extremely versatile working dog from the farmlands of Switzerland.
They were developed to herd cattle, pull carts, and be watchdogs and loyal companions. They’re one of four types of Swiss Mountain Dogs, and the only one with long hair.
The Bernese Mountain Dog comes from the canton of Bern, hence their name.
They’re a large and sturdy dog breed, with a friendly and calm disposition, and they’re also well-suited to conformation, obedience, tracking, herding, and carting competitions.
Males, on average, stand 25 to 28 inches tall at the shoulder and weigh 80 to 115 pounds. Females stand 23 to 26 inches tall and weigh 70 to 95 pounds. Individuals of the breed may be smaller or larger.
Dogs of this breed are great watchdogs, but that also means they have a tendency to bark — loudly.
The Berner is an affectionate, intelligent, and alert dog. They're also gentle, calm, and tolerant. They like to be with family and thrive when included in family activities.
The President of Ireland Micheal D Higgins has two Bernese Mountain dogs Bród and Misneach.
The buzzard or 'Clamhán' in Irish, means 'mangy or shabby looking'.
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Buzzards were driven to extinction in Ireland about 120 years ago because of poisoning and shooting.
However they recently returned, re-colonised naturally from Scotland to Northern Ireland.
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Buzzards are very fond of rats. They are not equipped like a hawk or a falcon to catch birds in flight.
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Occasionally they take birds on the ground, particularly the young of ground nesting birds, but they specialise in small mammals up to the size of rabbits and young hares. They are also very adaptable when it comes to things to eat and will sometimes concentrate on hunting earthworms in ploughed fields or frogs travelling to their spawning ponds.
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They eat carrion too and are just as happy with a rabbit or a rat that’s been killed by a car as one they’ve killed themselves.
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Grey squirrels spend a lot of time foraging on the ground and this makes them particularly susceptible to buzzard attacks.
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These attacks take two main forms. Either the bird soars on outstretched wings, often several hundred metres above ground, looking for prey. It can then stoop, in a rather clumsy dive, on an unsuspecting rabbit. I’ve watched this and it’s a bit ineffectual, largely because such a big bird makes a lot of noise when it dives because of the wind rushing through its feathers and this warns the rabbit.
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The second method is to take up a strategic perch and watch for prey it can pounce on.
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Pairs mate for life. To attract a mate (or impress his existing mate) the male performs a ritual aerial display before the beginning of Spring.
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The female lays a clutch of 2-4 white eggs with red and brown markings, at three-day intervals in mid-April. She does most of the incubation for 33-35 days for each successive egg. The chicks hatch at about two-day intervals.
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You can see this beautiful character in our Farmyard Féasta book.
https://www.johnnymagory.com/product/farmyard-feasta/
The scientific name is Crex crex which is derived from the loud male call of “krek krek”. They are known to sing at night-time during spring and summer.
The kerrx-kerrx sound of the corncrake has been compared with two cheese-graters rubbed together (let your Little Explorer have a listen on YouTube)
These birds are extremely endangered however a glimmer of hope in preventing their extinction is evident. The State’s bid to save the corncrake from national extinction received a boost last year with the number of calling males increasing by 8 per cent to 151.
They are a medium-sized crake with buff- or grey-streaked brownish-black upperparts, chestnut markings on the wings, and blue-grey underparts with rust-coloured and white bars on the flanks and undertail.
Downy chicks are black.
This secretive species builds a nest of grass leaves in a hollow in the ground and lays 6–14 cream-coloured eggs which are covered with rufous blotches.
They are a migratory bird and fly back to Africa every winter.
The corn crake is omnivorous but mainly feeds on invertebrates, the occasional small frog or mammal, and plant material including grass seed and cereal grain.
Listen to the unmistakable call of the corncrake here
Watch our Wildlife Wednesday Video here for more fun facts
Chickens, the females are hens, were most likely introduced to Ireland during the first few centuries AD. However, they were not common here until well into the 14th century.
Chickens are descended from junglefowl and dinosaurs.
Chickens can show empathy.
Chickens can speak to each other.
Chickens can dream and can be hypnotised.
Chicken's are omnivores. In the wild, they often scratch at the soil to search for seeds & insects.
Purebred chickens such as the Marans, Silkie, Minorca, Rhode Island Reds, Bantams, Leghorns, and the Sussex are all bred in Ireland today.
The average chicken may live for five to ten years.
With around 23 billion chickens on the planet at any one time, the bird is known as the most successful species on earth.🐓
You can see this beautiful character in our Farmyard Féasta book by clicking here
The average height is between 14hh – 14.2hh making them one of the bigger pony breeds.
Although the Connemara pony is officially a native breed, it originates from Scandinavia and Spain.
In 795 AD the Vikings brought an earlier version of the breed but it wasn’t until the Spanish Armada ran aground in 1588 unleashing some Andalusian horses, that the Connemara as we know it came about.
With a strong back and short muscular legs, its physicality is perfectly suited to the craggy and untamed terrain of the Connemara landscape.
Connemara ponies are famed for their good nature and kind eyes. They are notoriously hardy and great for both children’s and adults and were known for working with families on farms right up to the mid 20th-century.
The ponies were used to pull plows, carry turf and haul in seaweed to fertilize the land, as well as bring the family to Mass of a Sunday.
Despite their smaller stature, Connemara ponies adapted to the terrain in their local area by becoming fabulous jumpers and are famed globally for their ability in the arena.
In the 1930s, a 22-year-old, 15-hand Connemara gelding, called The Nugget, cleared a 7' 2" jump and went on to win over 300 international prizes. A 14.1 halfbreed Connemara named Stroller was one of only two horses to jump a clear round in the entire 1968 Olympics.
The Connemara Pony Breeders’ Society was founded in 1923 in Clifden, Co. Galway aiming to protect and further develop the breed.
You can see this beautiful character in our Farmyard Féasta book by clicking here
Crows have shiny jet black plumage with curious eyes, hoping gait, & a remarkable level of intelligence.
With more than 120 species, crows thrive in almost all the continents, other than Antartica.
Crows belong to the genus Corvus in the family Corvidae.
“Cawing” is the sound they make & they have a sophisticated form of communication language.
They usually lay 4-7 eggs at a time.
They have a single mate their entire life.
Crows have the biggest brain to body ratio among all bird species. Evolved with a highly developed forebrain, where intelligence is regulated, the anatomy of the crow brain is much similar to humans’.
Just like parrots, crows can imitate human voice but they are more intelligent than parrots and are known to use tools &methods for getting food such as leaving a nutshell on a road so a car will drive over it to crack it for them!
Crows, particularly ravens, have strong connections with European folklore and mythology – particularly in Celtic and Norse mythology. Ravens were the messengers of the Irish and Welsh gods and were associated with battle and prophecy.
Aesop’s famous fable “The crow and the pitcher” demonstrates the crows intelligence.
The story concerns a thirsty crow that comes upon a pitcher with water at the bottom, beyond the reach of its beak. After failing to push it over, the bird drops in pebbles one by one until the water rises to the top of the pitcher, allowing it to drink.
So next time you hear a “caw” say hello to this remarkable bird... It might just say hello back!
Introducing the Dexter Cow 🐮 Dexter cattle or Eallach Dexter are a breed originating in Ireland.
They are the smallest of the European cattle breeds, they are about half the size of a Hereford and about one-third the size of a Holstein Friesian milking cow.
A rare breed until recently, they are now considered a recovering breed by the Livestock Conservancy.
The Dexter breed originated in the southwestern area of Ireland.
The Dexter is a small breed with mature cows weighing between 600 and 700 lb and mature bulls weighing about 1,000 lb. Considering their small size, their bodies are wide and deep with well-rounded hindquarters.
Dexter's have three coat colours- black, red and brown. Dexter's should have no white markings except for some minor white markings on the belly/udder behind the navel and some white hairs in the tail switch.
You can see this beautiful character in our Farmyard Féasta book by clicking here
Dolphins are small-toothed cetaceans easily recognizable by their curved mouths, which give them a permanent “smile.” There are 36 dolphin species, found in every ocean. Most dolphins are marine and live in the ocean or brackish waters along coastlines. There are a few species, however, like the South Asian river dolphin and the Amazon river dolphin, or boto, that live in freshwater streams and rivers.
The largest dolphin, the ocra, can grow to be over 30 feet long. The smallest, the Maui dolphin, is just five feet long.
Dolphins feed chiefly on fish and squid, which they track using echolocation, a built-in sonar that bounces sound waves off prey and reveals information like its location, size, and shape. An echolocating bottlenose dolphin can make up to a thousand clicking noises per second.
Living in pods that can number a dozen or more, dolphins are intensely social mammals that communicate with squeaks, whistles, and clicks. Whether dolphins have language, as humans do, is a topic that scientists have debated for years.
As mammals, they have warm blood and nurse their young. Dolphins have more than one mate, and generally produce a single offspring that will stay with the mother for up to six years, depending on the species.
Dolphins are graceful, sleek swimmers that can reach speeds of more than 18 miles an hour. They are also playful and often frolic in a boat’s wake, leaping out of the water—possibly for fun, to communicate, or even shed pesky parasites.
For centuries, people have hunted dolphins for their meat and blubber. Today, their main threat comes from being caught accidentally in commercial fishing nets. Dolphins must rise regularly to the surface to breathe—becoming entangled in nets prevents this, leading to drowning. For maine dolphins, warming ocean temperatures because of climate change have caused some of their primary food sources to move into deeper, cooler water. Furthermore, marine heatwaves, also caused by climate change, appear to have a negative impact on dolphins' reproductive rates and ability to survive.
In addition to hunting and entanglement in fishing gear, freshwater dolphins face the additional threat of dams fragmenting and degrading habitat.
Dragonfly nymphs live in the water while they grow and develop into dragonflies taking up to four years to complete always around springtime. The lifespan of the actual dragonfly is about 2-6 months
Damselflies are small typically to 3cm long, bodies 2-4mm in diameter, wings held closed over back when perching.
Dragonflies are larger, bodies long and slim or broad and short, wings held open when perching.
Once the nymph is fully grown, and the weather is right, it will complete the metamorphosis into a dragonfly by crawling out of the water up the stem of a plant.
The nymph will shed its skin onto the stem of the plant and will then be a young dragonfly.
Dragonflies and damselflies belong to an order of insects known by the scientific name of Odonata.
The adults (and larvae) are active hunters. Many are strongly territorial; some are migratory and many will actually respond to your presence.
There are 32 species on the Irish dragonfly list. Even in the heart of large towns and cities, dragonflies can be seen, and by building garden ponds can be enticed close to our homes.
Dragonflies can be seen and appreciated by sitting quietly beside water in sunny weather. It can be worth slowly approaching perched insects for a closer look which is much easier (but less pleasant!) when the weather is dull.
Cooler temperatures on dull cloudy days or in the evening make dragonflies less active and reluctant or unable to fly. The damselflies in particular have the habit of dropping deep into vegetation if disturbed when the air temperature is low. They can then be surprisingly difficult to find.
My Nanna told me, when I was a little girl, that the fairies sew the young dragonfly’s wings because of the shimmer and delicate patterns. Have a look for yourself and decide.
The average lifespan of the mallard duck is 10 years but the oldest recorded was 27 years.
The mallard is one of Ireland’s most common ducks. It is also one of our largest ducks.
Males have a striking green head, a yellow bill, white ring around the neck, grey underparts, blue speculum, and a black rump. Females are mainly brown.
Their diet varies from seeds to insects and crustaceans to grain and stubble to human given foods.
They will lay anything between 7-16 eggs once a year with the female incubating. She waits until the ducklings feathers are dry after hatching before bringing them for their first swim.
Newly born duckling may be lost to crows, herons, magpies, pike and even large perch. Both the young and adult mallards are also the prey of foxes and mink.
Males don’t quack, and instead produce deeper, raspier one and two note calls. They can also make rattling sounds by rubbing their bills against their flight feathers.
Migrating Mallards have been clocked flying at 55 miles per hour usually cruising at an altitude of less than 10,000 feet. In 1962, a mallard was struck by a commercial airliner at 21,000 feet—a record altitude for a bird-aircraft collision at the time.
Although the mallard are common, the population has also declined by over 40% in the last 20 years.
Starfish (or sea stars) are beautiful marine animals found in a variety of colors, shapes, and sizes. All starfish resemble stars, and though the most common have only five arms, some of these animals can grow up to 40 arms. The amazing sea creatures—part of a group of animals known as echinoderms—travel using their tube feet. They can regenerate lost limbs and swallow large prey using their unusual stomachs.
Although sea stars live underwater and are commonly called "starfish," they are not true fish. They do not have gills, scales, or fins like fish do
Sea stars also move quite differently from fish. While fish propel themselves with their tails, sea stars have tiny tube feet to help them move along.
Because they are not classified as fish, scientists prefer to call starfish "sea stars."
Sea stars belong to the phylum Echinodermata. That means they are related to sand dollars, sea urchins, sea cucumbers, and sea lilies. Overall, this phylum contains approximately 7,000 species.1
Many echinoderms exhibit radial symmetry, meaning their body parts are arranged around a central axis. Many sea stars have five-point radial symmetry because their body has five sections. This means that they do not have an obvious left and right half, only a top side and a bottom side. Echinoderms also usually have spines, which are less pronounced in sea stars than they are in other organisms such as sea urchins.
There are about 2,000 species of sea stars.2 Some live in the intertidal zone, while others live in the deep water of the ocean. While many species live in tropical areas, sea stars can also be found in cold areas—even the polar regions.
While many people are most familiar with the five-armed species of sea stars, not all sea stars have just five arms. Some species have many more, such as the sun star, which can have up to 40 arms.
Amazingly, sea stars can regenerate lost arms, which is useful if a sea star is injured by a predator. It can lose an arm, escape, and grow a new arm later.
Sea stars house most of their vital organs in their arms. This means that some species can even regenerate an entirely new sea star from just one arm and a portion of the star's central disc. This won't happen too quickly, though; it takes about a year for an arm to grow back.
Depending on the species, a sea star's skin may feel leathery or slightly prickly. Sea stars have a tough covering on their upper side, which is made up of plates of calcium carbonate with tiny spines on their surface.
A sea star's spines are used for protection from predators, which include birds, fish, and sea otters. One very spiny sea star is the aptly named crown-of-thorns starfish.
Instead of blood, sea stars have a circulatory system made up primarily of seawater.
Seawater is pumped into the animal's water vascular system through its sieve plate. This is a sort of trap door called a madreporite, often visible as a light-colored spot on the top of the starfish.
From the madreporite, seawater moves into the sea star's tube feet, causing the arm to extend. Muscles within the tube feet are used to retract the limb.
Sea stars move using hundreds of tube feet located on their underside. The tube feet are filled with seawater, which the sea star brings in through the madreporite on its top side.
Sea stars can move quicker than you might expect. If you get a chance, visit a tide pool or aquarium and take a moment to watch a sea star moving around. It is one of the most amazing sights in the ocean.
Tube feet also help the sea star hold its prey, including clams and mussels.
Sea stars prey on bivalves like mussels and clams as well as small fish, snails, and barnacles. If you've ever tried to pry the shell of a clam or mussel open, you know how difficult it is. However, sea stars have a unique way of eating these creatures.
A sea star's mouth is on its underside. When it catches its food, the sea star will wrap its arms around the animal's shell and pull it open just slightly. Then it does something amazing: the sea star pushes its stomach through its mouth and into the bivalve's shell. It then digests the animal and slides its stomach back into its own body.
This unique feeding mechanism allows the sea star to eat larger prey than it would otherwise be able to fit into its tiny mouth.
Many people are surprised to learn that starfish have eyes. It's true. The eyes are there—just not in the place you would expect.
Sea stars have an eye spot at the end of each arm. This means that a five-armed sea star has five eyes, while the 40-armed sun star has 40 eyes.
Each sea star eye is very simple and looks like a red spot. It doesn't see much detail but it can sense light and dark, which is just enough for the environments the animals live in.
Starfish belong to the animal class Asteroidea. These echinoderms all have several arms arranged around a central disk.
Asteroidea is the classification for "true stars." These animals are in a separate class from brittle stars and basket stars, which have a more defined separation between their arms and their central disk.
Females are does, males are bucks and babies are called pinkies because of their bright pink color.
The average lifespan of an Irish field mouse is thought to be only 20 months long.
There are two species of mice in Ireland, the common house mouse and the wood mouse or field mouse.
They are one of the smallest mammals on our island and absolutely adorable in my eyes!
Field mice have larger eyes, ears and a much longer tail, their hind legs are also much larger in proportion to their body size measuring up to 3cm in length in comparison to the house mouse.
They have four toes on their front feet and five on their back feet.
They have excellent vision and smell.
Movement can be described as fast and alert with an ability to leap, swim and climb when necessary.
As the name suggests they can be found in an Irish woodland type such as coniferous, deciduous and mixed forests, hedgerows, agricultural land, sand dunes, bramble and bracken scrub, gardens, blanket bog and open grasslands. The only habitat areas which are unsuitable for wood mice are waterlogged lands.
Underground burrows are dug in soft ground and can contain a number of tunnels and chambers, some chambers act as food stores with a nest room located deeper in the earth where it is warmer.
Their diets are composed of seeds such as acorns, beech mast and conifer seeds, fruits, berries, buds, fungi, nuts, roots, cereals and bulbs. They will also hunt earthworms, snails, centipedes and insects.
They use pathways to travel to foraging areas and to return with surplus food for storage underground.
There are over 800 species of hermit crabs worldwide, and almost all are ocean dwellers—though people are likely most familiar with the dozen semi-terrestrial species, called land hermit crabs, which are often kept as pets. There’s only one freshwater hermit crab, Clibanarius fonticola, which is native to Vanuatu.
Hermit crabs are omnivorous scavengers, eating microscopic mussels and clams, bits of dead animals, and macroalgae.
These crustaceans have been misnamed for two reasons: First, they’re not true crabs, like blue crabs, in that they don’t have a uniformly hard exoskeleton and can’t grow their own shells. Instead, hermit crabs have a hard exoskeleton on the front part of their bodies but a soft tail on the other half, which they protect using the discarded shells of other animals, like whelks. They’re more closely related to certain kinds of lobsters than to true crabs.
Hermit crabs have a curled tail with a hook that enables their bodies to fit inside these borrowed shells. Sometimes when a new shell turns up, hermit crabs will form a line, biggest to smallest, to see which animal fits the new shell. The next smallest will take that crab’s hand-me-down home, and so on.
Seagulls are very clever. They learn, remember and even pass on behaviours, such as stamping their feet in a group to imitate rainfall and trick earthworms to come to the surface.
Seagulls’ intelligence is clearly demonstrated by a range of different feeding behaviours, such as dropping hard-shelled molluscs onto rocks so that they break open so they can eat them, and following ploughs in fields where they know upturned grubs and other food sources will be plentiful.
Seagulls are attentive and caring parents. The male and female pair for life and they take turns incubating the eggs, and feeding and protecting the chicks.
Gulls have a complex and highly developed repertoire for communication which includes a range of vocalisations and body movements.
Seagulls can drink both fresh and salt water. Most animals are unable to do this, but seagulls have a special pair of glands right above their eyes which is specifically designed to flush the salt from their systems through openings in the beak.
There is a great deal of diversity between different gull species, with the smallest being the Little Gull (120 g and 29 cm) and the largest being the Great Black-beaked Gull (1.75 kg and 75 cm).
A small claw halfway up their lower leg enables them to sit and roost on high ledges without being blown off.
Young gulls form nursery flocks where they will play and learn vital skills for adulthood. Nursery flocks are watched over by a few adult males and these flocks will remain together until the birds are old enough to breed.
In Native American symbolism, the seagull represents a carefree attitude, versatility, and freedom.
Many seagulls have learned to conserve energy by hovering over bridges in order to absorb raising heat from paved roadways.
Mussel is the common term used for members of several families of bivalve molluscs, from saltwater and freshwater habitats. These groups have in common a shell whose outline is elongated and asymmetrical compared with other edible clams, which are often more or less rounded or oval.
The word "mussel" is frequently used to mean the bivalves of the marine family Mytildae, most of which live on exposed shores in the intertidal zone, attached by means of their strong byssal threads ("beard") to a firm substrate. A few species (in the genus Bathymodiolus) have colonised hydrothermal vents associated with deep ocean ridges.
In most marine mussels the shell is longer than it is wide, being wedge-shaped or asymmetrical. The external colour of the shell is often dark blue, blackish, or brown, while the interior is silvery and somewhat nacreous.
The common name "mussel" is also used for many freshwater bivalves, including the freshwater pearl mussels. Freshwater mussel species inhabit lakes, ponds, rivers, creeks, canals, and they are classified in a different subclass of bivalves, despite some very superficial similarities in appearance.
Freshwater zebra mussels and their relatives in the family Dreissenidae are not related to previously mentioned groups, even though they resemble many Mytilus species in shape, and live attached to rocks and other hard surfaces in a similar manner, using a byssus. They are classified with the Heterodonta the taxonomic group which includes most of the bivalves commonly referred to as "clams".
The mussel's external shell is composed of two hinged halves or "valves". The valves are joined together on the outside by a ligament, and are closed when necessary by strong internal muscles (anterior and posterior adductor muscles). Mussel shells carry out a variety of functions, including support for soft tissues, protection from predators and protection against desiccation.
The shell has three layers. In the pearly mussels there is an inner iridescent layer of nacre (mother-of-pearl) composed of calcuim carbonate, which is continuously secreted by the mantle; the prismatic layer, a middle layer of chalky white crystals of calcium carbonate in a protein matrix; and the periostracum, an outer pigmented layer resembling a skin. The periostracum is composed of a protein called conchin, and its function is to protect the prismatic layer from abrasion and dissolution by acids (especially important in freshwater forms where the decay of leaf materials produces acids).
Both marine and freshwater mussels are filter feeders; they feed on plankton and other microscopic sea creatures which are free-floating in seawater. A mussel draws water in through its incurrent siphon. The water is then brought into the branchial chamber by the actions of the cilla located on the gills for ciliary-mucus feeding. The wastewater exits through the excurrent siphon. The labial palps finally funnel the food into the mouth, where digestion begins.
The leatherback sea turtle is the largest turtle in the world. They are the only species of sea turtle that lack scales and a hard shell. They are named for their tough rubbery skin and have existed in their current form since the age of the dinosaurs. Leatherbacks are highly migratory, some swimming over 10,000 miles a year between nesting and foraging grounds. They are also accomplished divers with the deepest recorded dive reaching nearly 4,000 feet—deeper than most marine mammals.
The leatherback turtle has the widest global distribution of any reptile, with nesting mainly on tropical or subtropical beaches. Once prevalent in every ocean except the Arctic and Antarctic, the leatherback population is rapidly declining in many parts of the world. They face threats on both nesting beaches and in the marine environment.
The leatherback sea turtle is listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act. It is estimated that the global population has declined 40 percent over the past three generations. Leatherback nesting in Malaysia has essentially disappeared, declining from about 10,000 nests in 1953 to only one or two nests per year since 2003.
The leatherback has a primarily black, rubbery skin with pinkish-white coloring on its underside. They are the only species of sea turtle that lack scales. Their shell (carapace) consists of small, interlocking dermal bones beneath the skin that overlie a supportive layer of connective tissue and fat and the deeper skeleton. Their carapace has seven ridges along its length and tapers to a blunt point. Their front flippers are proportionally longer than in other sea turtles and their back flippers are paddle-shaped. Both their rigid carapace and their large flippers make the leatherback uniquely equipped for long distance foraging migrations.
Leatherback sea turtles undertake the longest migrations between breeding and feeding areas of any sea turtle, some averaging 3,700 miles each way. They spend most of their lives in the ocean, but females leave the water to lay eggs. Leatherbacks are strong swimmers and can dive to depths of approximately 4,000 feet—deeper than any other turtle—and can stay down for up to 85 minutes.
Leatherbacks lack the crushing, chewing plates characteristic of other sea turtles that feed on hard-bodied prey. Instead, they have pointed tooth-like cusps and sharp-edged jaws that are perfectly adapted for a diet of soft-bodied open ocean prey such as jellyfish and salps. A leatherback's mouth and throat also have backward-pointing spines that help retain gelatinous prey.
Leatherbacks occur in the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans. Nesting beaches are primarily located in tropical latitudes around the world. Globally, the largest remaining nesting aggregations are found in Trinidad and Tobago, West-Indies (Northwest Atlantic) and Gabon, Africa (Southeast Atlantic).
Leatherback turtles grow faster than hard-shelled turtles. However, there is uncertainty about the age at which they reach sexual maturity. Average estimates range from 9 to 20 years of age. Likewise, little is known about their life expectancy, but they are likely long-lived, with longevity estimates of 45 to 50 years, or more.
The Common Frog (Rana temporaria) is the only species of frog found in Ireland.
There are three species of amphibian found in Ireland – the Natterjack Toad (Epidalea calamita), the Smooth Newt (Triturus vulgaris) and the Common Frog (Rana temporaria). The Natterjack toad is extremely rare and is confined to a few areas in Counties Kerry and Wexford.
Frogs are amphibians which means they can survive in the water and on land.
When frogs leap they draw eyes their back into their sockets to protect them from damage.
A frog’s skin is loose on its body and moist. Under the water they breathe through their skin.
The colourful patterns on the frog’s skin help to disguise it from enemies such as rats, herons and hedgehogs. A frog can also make its skin become darker to match its surroundings. This colour change takes about two hours.
Frogs have four fingers and five toes. The webbed feet are like flippers and help the frog to swim away from danger very fast. The frog’s hind legs are very muscular which helps it to swim in the water and leap on land
Frogs feed on slugs, insects, worms, spiders and similar prey.
In winter frogs hide in frost-free refuges, under tree stumps, in stacks of turf, or in rock piles where they enter torpor until the following spring.
They breed around February and spawn around March, Tadpoles hatch and grow from April to May, Tadpoles metamorphose into froglets, and leave the pond in June/July.
Human hands have natural salts and oils that can irritate a frog's skin, so handling the animals with dry hands can cause severe problems for them, even death; so, wash and keep them moist if you must touch them.
Watch our Wildlife Wednesday Video here for more fun facts
Males are known as dogs; female are vixens and babies are cubs.
They are highly vocal using a range of sounds to communicate, these vary from high pitched murmuring whines emitted by cubs to the distinctive triple bark used by adults, the vixen often uses a high-pitched scream during the breeding season.
They are able swimmers and can even climb trees.
Foxes are highly adaptive mammals that can inhabit any type of land area.
Foxes use two types of nest sites. Underground dens known as earths and over ground lie-up areas found in thick vegetation with numerous of both across the territory.
Territory size vary depending on the area type and availability of food. Mountains/ upland territories are up to 1,000ha. Urban territories are from 20ha to 40ha. Farmland/ countryside territories are from 200ha to 600ha.
Foxes are very opportunistic eaters. Species which they have a preference for include rabbits, young hares, rats, mice, hedgehogs, pigeons and ground nesting birds. They will forage for earthworms, beetles, crickets and insect larvae. Apples and blackberries are also eaten on occasion. They store food in cache sites to be eaten at a later date.
Foxes are largely monogamous and can live in small groups comprising of one adult male, one dominant vixen and several younger nonbreeding females.
Cubs are usually born in March and April with litter sizes averaging four or five cubs. They are deaf and blind when born.
The mother will remain with the cubs in the earth for several weeks to provide body heat and gives milk for six weeks. The male will bring food to the den, which is regurgitated, they can eat solid food by the age of one month.
Another native Irish farm breed to feature in our new book is the gorgeous Galway Sheep.
The following information has been taken from the official Association of Galway Sheep.
The Galway Sheep Breeders Association was established in 1923. The Association was founded to encourage the breeding and conservation of Galway Sheep and to maintain the Sheep as a pure breed.
The Galway is Ireland's only native Sheep breed and deserves to be conserved for Historical, Scientific, Cultural and Agricultural reasons.
The Breed has been granted Rare Breed Status and receives financial support under Reps IV.
The sheep are hornless and can be recognised by their white faces, and long, fine textured wool – which is extremely popular with hand spinners producing clothing of exceptional quality.
You can see this beautiful character in our Farmyard Féasta book by clicking here
Golden Plover's are Summer visitors from France & Iberia (though possibly some remain year-round in Ireland) & winter visitor from Iceland. Most in Ireland between October & February.
Smaller than the Grey Plover, with narrower, more pointed wings. Golden brown upperparts, which look grey at close range. Males in summer have more black below than females - extends from throat, towards each eye, and ventrally under neck, chest and belly. In winter, males and females similar in appearence, with no black underparts.
Flat whistle 'puu' in flight or when alarmed. Rythmic song 'pu-pee-oo' repeated in display flight, often followed by a repeated 'perpurrlya' when alighting, or when on the ground.
They Feed on a variety of soil and surface-living invertebrates, principally beetles and earthworms, but also on plant material such as berries, seeds and grasses. They regularly feed in association with Lapwing & Black-headed Gulls.
Breed in heather moors, blanket bogs & acidic grasslands. Distribution limited to the uplands of northwest counties in Ireland.
Throughout the winter, Golden Plovers are regularly found in large, densely-packed flocks, and in a variety of habitats, both coastal and inland. Their distribution is widespread in Ireland.
They are one of Ireland’s longest established indigenous animals and are much larger than rabbits with a more upright stance.
Their eyes are large and set in the sides of the head allowing for a wide field of vision which is close to 360 degrees.
When running they have a top speed of 70kmp or 43mph and can change direction sharply to outwit predators.
They have five toes on their front feet and four on their hind.
They do not burrow underground but occupy ground surface dens called forms in sheltered areas of flattened vegetation under heather and long grass.
They are native to Ireland and they have been present in Ireland as far back as 28,000BC
The hares are steeped in Irish legend/ folklore and Irish mythology as shapeshifters.
There is a legend that the Celtic warrior Oisin hunted a hare, wounding it in the leg. Oisin followed the wounded animal into a thicket where he found a door leading down into the ground. He went in and came to a large hall where he found a beautiful young woman sitting on a throne bleeding from a leg wound. He vowed to never hunt or eat a hare from that day.
The term “Mad as a March hare” stems from the fact that male hares will fight or “box” during March which is their primary mating season.
The average lifespan is 3 years but they can live up to 10 years.
Hedgehogs have poor eyesight but a great sense of smell - so good that they can even smell the scent of an earthworm underground.
Hedgehogs can swim but can become trapped in pools and ponds with steep sides.
As many as 500 fleas live amongst a hedgehogs’ spines!
Hedgehogs can wander for up to 3 km a night in search of food.
The Latin for ‘hedgehog’ is Erinaceus which means ‘spiky wall’ .
The Irish word for hedgehog is ‘gráinneog’ - meaning ‘horrible one’!
Hedgehogs occasionally perform an unusual ritual of ‘self-anointing’. This occurs when they come across a strong or an unfamiliar scent. The hedgehog will lick and bite the source and then form scented frothy saliva which it pastes over its spines with its tongue. Some believe that this ‘anointing’ camouflages the hedgehog with the scent of the area and possibly provides a poison or a source of infection to predators that come into contact with its spines.
Apart from the nine species of bat, the hedgehog is the only Irish mammal that undergoes true hibernation usually from October to March.
Watch our Wildlife Wednesday Video here for more fun facts
The longest lifespan reported is 16 years and 5 months. The average is 16.6 months.
The male and female differ so much in appearance that historically people believed they were two different species of bird.
Males are grey with black tipped wings, females are much larger with brown feathers. Both have a distinctive white rump and barred tails giving them the nickname “ring-tails”. Their wingspan is between 99cm - 122cm. They glide with their wings held in its characteristic shallow V.
At the start of the breeding season, in late March, the male hen harrier performs a breath-taking tumbling, somersaulting display that involved plummeting towards the ground then rearing up almost vertically before dropping suddenly again.
Hen Harriers nest on the ground laying 4-6 pale blue eggs once a year. The female guards the nest while the male hunts. Males may mate with more than one female and will hunt for each nest.
Harriers feed on small birds, mammals & occasionally reptiles, amphibians and large insects.
Males returning from a successful hunting trip deliver food to their mates in a spectacular aerial manoeuvre called a ‘food pass’. As he approaches the nest area, the male calls to the female, who rises to meet him. The male then either drops the food for the female to catch, or delivers it to her directly in mid-air, his mate swinging upside down beneath him to take the prey from his feet into the grasp of her own talons.
The most recent Birdwatch Ireland survey in 2015 estimated the population to be 108-157 breeding pairs.
If you see a Hen Harrier... A scheme has been developed to find out where the Hen Harriers are going and coloured tags on the back of wings will help tell us where.
If you spot a Hen Harrier at any time of year, please contact:
Sandra Irwin at s.irwin@ucc.ie or
Barry O Donoghue – 0879110715, harriers@environ.ie
Watch our Wildlife Wednesday Video here for more fun facts
The oldest recorded bird was 23, but the average life expectancy in the wild is about 5 years.
With its long neck and long legs, it is impossible to confuse with another Irish bird although some still call them cranes.
The Crane became extinct in Ireland only in late medieval times, sometime between 1540 and 1600.
They are most often observed alone by the banks of rivers, canals, lakes, the coast and wetlands however where feeding is good, they may congregate in relatively large numbers.
Their diet consists fish, frogs and other amphibians, ducklings, other birds, and small rodents such as mice. They’ve been known to enjoy the odd goldfish or two from garden ponds! They are clever and sometimes toss seeds or fruit in the water to attract fish.
Herons are a wading bird generally avoiding swimming whenever possible.
A grey heron's nest is made from large twigs and grass & forms a large platform in tall trees built in colonies called a heronry. Both parents incubate the eggs which are pale greenish-blue; both also feed the chicks.
Herons that breed in Ireland are sedentary however birds from Britain and as far away as Scandinavia join the Irish population for the winter.
In Irish mythology both crane and heron are placed as guardians of the treasures of the Otherworld. A beauty named Aoife was turned into a crane by a jealous lover and forced to be a slave to Manannan Mac Lir, the sea god, for 200 years, "always in his house with everyone mocking thee, a crane that does not visit any land." When poor Aoife died, Manannan, rather gruesomely, from her skin had made "a good treasure of vessels" such as his shirt, knife &helmet. This crane-bag would reveal its contents only at full-tide, otherwise nothing was visible. The bag was passed on to various gods.
Celts believed heron was an incarnation of the goddess called Rhiannon, which was a Celtic deity associated with lakes & waters.
The Irish Greyhound pig was a descendant of the European wild pig (Sus scrofa) that had roamed Irish forests since prehistoric times. ... The European wild pig varied little across the continent. It was rough-bristled, long-legged, had a long head and was usually a blackish colour.
In the early middle Ages there was not much distinction between the wild pig and the domesticated pig - the domesticated pig was fed on acorns and beech mast like its wild cousin, and it remained a lean, narrow-backed and rough-bristled creature.
There are no records suggesting when the wild pig died out in Ireland but it was probably around the 12th Century soon after the arrival of the Normans, when the ongoing deforestation of the land would have gradually reduced their natural habitat.
You can see this beautiful character in our Farmyard Féasta book by clicking here
On average, in the wild, a Kestrel will live for 18 months but the oldest Kestrel on record was 16yrs 5months old.
The kestrel is a species of falcon and are a small bird of prey with long, relatively narrow wings and tail.
They have a short, hooked bill for eating meat. When hunting for its prey it usually hovers with a fanned tail managing to keep its head stationary despite its rapid wing beats.
Kestrels nest in trees, buildings or in cracks in cliffs and have been known to use old crows nests.
Kestrels can be found in a wide variety of open habitats including coasts, moor land, farmland, wetlands, roadside verges and town parks.
According to Niall Mac Coitir in his book “Ireland’s Birds: Myths, Legends and Folklore” (The Collins Press 2015); in times long gone by, kestrels were the lowliest of falcons, used only by naves or servants. Nevertheless, they had a use, as they were traditionally kept near dovecotes to scare sparrowhawks away, because they would not bother the doves themselves. It was even said that pigeons would seek out a kestrel for protection if a sparrowhawk was about.
Although the average lifespan of magpies is five years, the longest lived specimen was 21 years, 8 months, and 23 days old when it died in 1947.
With distinctive black & white plumage and raucous nature magpies cannot be confused with any other Irish bird.
The magpie is Ireland's best-known member of the crow family.
Although the plumage looks black and white in actual fact the black feathers are purple-blue iridescent sheen on the wing feathers, and there is a green gloss to the tail.
Magpies use their long black legs to walk and quite often to hop along the ground.
It is believed that magpies were first recorded in Wexford in 1676 when up to a dozen flew across the Irish sea from Britain. Breeding in Dublin was first noted in 1852.
Although the average lifespan of magpies is five years, the longest-lived specimen was 21 years, 8 months, and 23 days old when it died in 1947.
We all know the rhyme "One for sorrow, Two for joy, Three for a girl, Four for a boy, Five for silver, Six for gold, Seven for a secret never to be told."
Babies are cubs and there is usually 2-3 in the litter.
The otter is a member of the Mustelid family which includes stoats, minks and pine martens in Ireland.
Always found by water, otters live by small streams to major rivers, upland lakes to coastal lagoons and sandy beaches.
Within its territory (which can be between 2 - 20km) they have a number of resting sites, called couches and underground denning sites called holts, which can be up to 1km from the water source.
The holts are natural crevices with multiple entrances. Otters rarely dig their own holts they will use burrows made by other animals such as rabbits and foxes.
The entire population is estimated to be in the region of 10,000 adults.
Otters that live in rivers and lakes tend to be completely nocturnal, foraging at night or in ‘muddy’ water aided by their highly sensitive whiskers.
Otters are principally piscivorous eating salmon and trout but also eel and small fish species such as stickleback. However they will also eat frogs, crayfish, birds and small mammals. Otters that forage at the coast may have flexible foraging times linked to the tides. At low tide otters hunt in the exposed rock pools and seaweed covered rocks for fish and invertebrate prey.
Otters are agile swimmers with the ability to dive underwater for up to up to 8 minutes. They slink through the water only the head and part of the tail is visible. Sea otters hold hands when they are sleeping to stop them drifting apart.
Otters are not particularly vocal but will emit a whistle sound to communicate with more chuckles and chatters being heard during the mating season
Life expectancy can be up to ten years, although the majority of individuals are unlikely to survive past five years in the wild.
This animal is the rarest of all mammals in Ireland with an estimated 2,700 in the wild.
They are cat sized with brown fur and yellow throat patch with long bushy tail
Around 2-3 kits are born during March and April.
Their diet consists of berries, fruits, small mammals, invertebrates, birds and amphibians.
Native red squirrel numbers are on the rise as its grey rival declines in areas where the protected pine marten has started to recover as they prey on the bigger grey squirrel that is not as quick and agile as the red.
Pine Martens require forest or scrub habitat that provides cover.
The Pine Marten is a protected species and were protected under law in 1976. This has helped numbers increase across Ireland.
The pine marten is related to the Irish stoat, otter and badger (the Mustelid family).
The pygmy shrew (Sorex minutus) is Ireland’s smallest mammal and until very recently the only shrew species found in Ireland.
It can be distinguished easily in most of Ireland by its extremely small size and weighing at most about 6g.
Adult pygmy shrews are bicoloured with a brownish, thick fur which gets lighter on its flanks and underbelly.
The pygmy shrew has a thick, hairy tail relative to its size. It is found in a wide variety of habitats in Ireland, particularly those rich in ground cover like hedgerows, grasslands, woodlands and peatlands.
Pygmy shrews do not burrow themselves but will utilise the burrows of other animals.
The diet of the species includes beetles, spiders, bugs and woodlice and it has to consume up 1.25 times its body weight each day in order to survive.
This species is protected under the Wildlife Act (1976) and Wildlife (Amendment) Act 2000 but has been listed as of ‘least concern’ in the recent Red List for terrestrial mammals in Ireland.
Identifying feature: Extremely small size, long hairy tail, red-tipped teeth.
Number of young:2-3 litters per breeding season. Litter sizes of 1-9 (but mostly 4-6) born between April and October.
Diet: Beetles, spiders, bugs, woodlice and insect larvae.
A male deer is called stag or buck, a female deer is called doe or hind, and a young deer is called fawn, kid or calf.
The average life expentancy in the wild is 15 years and the maximum is over 20 years.
The red deer is Ireland's largest land mammal and is the only species of deer that is considered native to Ireland.
They earned their 'native' or indigenous status, as they are believed to have survived our last ice age or are the closest living population to the post-glacial native Irish Red deer.
The antlers which are only grown by the males are the most characteristic feature of the species.
They are shed and re-grown each year and have a distinctive branching design which form a curved heart shaped appearance when viewed from the front.
Mature stags can develop up to twelve points known as tines on the antlers which are used as a reflection of their social standing.
When the antlers are being grown they will be covered in a skin like velvet which is frayed off on tree trunks in time for the rutting season.
They are mainly grass grazers in open habitats who will also eat herbs, tree shoots, acorns and fruits. They will strip bark from the trunks of spruce and sallow tree types to gain access to the inner more nutritious material and will also browse the lower leaves of heather, oak and holly up to two meters from the ground.
Killarney National Park has the last intact herd of native Irish Red Deer as other herds have breed with different species.
Babies are called kittens in litter sizes of 2-3 twice a year. They are born blind and furless not becoming independent until approx. 3 months.
On average they live up to 3 years in the wild but females can reach up to 6 years of age.
They are not a very vocal species but will make chattering calls and stamp their tails making a chucking sound on wood and ground surfaces.
Their long bushy tail is equal to the length of the head and body combined and is used as a balance aid while climbing making them the most agile mammal in Ireland.
Red squirrels will build nests called dreys of dried grasses and moss for lining and an outer layer of twigs attached to the main trunk of trees. They may use several different nests within tree branches or use the hollows of older tree trunks and larger branches.
Red squirrels eat pine and spruce seeds, acorns, berries, fungi, tree sap and bark.
They forage all night in summer and early morning in late autumn and in winter.
Red squirrels famously bury collected nuts and seeds in hoards which are shallow pits dug in soft ground. They do not hibernate but can remain in their nests for several days if the weather is bad, making only quick trips to a nearby hoards which are important to the ecosystem of forests as this activity spreads tree seeds over large areas at the vital time of Autumn
They spend most of their active periods in the tree canopy while the grey squirrel, whose twice its size, stay foraging at ground level for much of the time.
Unfortunately, the red squirrel will usually disappear from an area with grey as they spend longer on the ground foraging. The red’s hoards can be found, and their winter food source removed resulting in starvation.
However, the increasing number of pine martens are helping the red since the greys are easier for them to catch on the ground.
Red squirrels use their tails as umbrellas when it’s raining
Watch our Wildlife Wednesday Video here for more fun facts
Lifespan is approx 2 years in the wild but the oldest recorded was eight years and five months.
They are the only bird in Ireland that keeps singing right through the winter and unusually the female sings also.
Adult male and female robins look identical.
Young robins lack the red breast instead have spotted brown plumage with a scalloped golden pattern on the breast.
Their diet consists of insects and worms and they are known for following human gardeners for any unearthed opportunities. They have a sweet beak too and with a little patience can be trained to eat from a human hand.
Males and females pair off annually around mid winter and stay together through to autumn.
Their nest is made from grass, moss and dead leaves lined with hair and wool. They usually build in a hole in a wall, tree cavity, ivy, or a bank but are known for setting up house in locations including sheds, garages, cars, post boxes and garden barbecues and even in coat pockets!
Here are some popular parts of the Robin in Irish folklore:
If a robin stays close to the house in autumn, a harsh winter can be expected.
Robins are a sure sign of spring and if you make a wish on the first robin of spring before it flies off, you'll have luck throughout the following year.
In the Christian tradition, it is thought that a robin tried to remove the thorns from Jesus’ head during the Crucifixion, and that drops of his blood fell onto the bird and stained his breast feathers red forever.
If you see a robin singing in the open that good weather is on its way, but that if the robin is seen sheltering among the branches of a tree that it will soon rain.
Also, if the first bird that you see on St Valentine’s Day, it means that you are destined to marry a sailor!
In our house, the Robin is sent by Santy to report back good behaviour
The Starlings or Druid as gaeilge, have been really grabbing my attention lately. That photo from Lough Ennell last week certainly grabbed attention worldwide.◾At first glance starlings look somewhat dull and drab however on closer inspection they can have bright cream speckles (in winter) plus a wonderfully iridescent plumage. They often congregate in large numbers and can be quite noisy and raucous.
◾A flock of starlings is called a murmuration and in winter these gatherings can number in excess of one million individuals.
◾A starling's long bill is yellow and the base is pink in females and blue in males.
◾Call: Excellent mimics. But typically issues a series of clicks, whistles & squeaks.
◾Habitat: Forest, farmland, woodland, urban
◾Diet: Insects, especially crane fly larvae, also fruit and seeds.
◾Nesting: April-May
◾Breeding Age: From 2 years
◾Number of Eggs: 4-5
◾No. of Clutches: 1 or 2
◾Lifespan: 5 years. Oldest recorded at 17 years 8 months
◾Conservation Status in Ireland: AMBERYou can see this beautiful character in our Farmyard Féasta book by clicking here
Average lifespan for a mute swan is ten years but the oldest recorded lived to 28 years and five months in 2012.
Female is called a pen, males called a cob and babies called cygnets.
The male and female are very similar however the male is larger with a larger black knob on the forehead.
Cygnets begin life with grey feathers, then gradually turn brown in adolescence before becoming white.
Everyone is familiar with the story “The Ugly Duckling” based on this fact.
A adult swan has approximately 25,000 feathers.
Their diet is largely based upon water plants. They use their extended neck to reach 1 meter below the water surface to graze but they also leave the water to graze on land vegetation, insects, molluscs and small amphibians.
Newly born cygnets are mainly lost to crows, herons, magpies, pike and large perch. Both cygnets and adult mute swans are also the prey of foxes and mink.
Vandals, pollution, dogs, overhead cables, bridges, pylons, lead poisoning, fishing-tackle injuries are some of the main threats to swans.
Most swans don’t breed until they are four or five having spent a year “on honeymoon”. Females tend to be younger than their mate.
Swans generally stay together for life. The divorce rate among Irish swans is around 3% per year.
Usually breeding in April, nests are untidy heaps of reed grass and debris beside the water bank; some may be floating.
The overall clutch size for Irish swans is seven eggs.
Once hatched, the cygnets remain with their mother on the nest for a day or two. Then she leads them onto the water where can swim, vocalise and feed themselves immediately.
When danger threatens, a mother will allow the babies climb on her back and shelter under her wings.
Try to read “the children of Lir”, a super Irish story.
Watch our Wildlife Wednesday Video here for more fun facts
The average lifespan of these birds is 2 to 3 years. The oldest recorded Wren was 6 years and 8 months old.
The wren is one of Ireland's smallest birds. Wrens are readily recognised by their rich brown plumage and short cocked tail which they flick repeatedly.
They usually only fly short distances in a steady straight line with rapid wing beats.
A wren's diet is largely based upon insects and spiders. They are particularly partial to beetles hence the reason that they usually feed close to the ground.
Wrens there relatively long bill to probe into nooks and crannies on the ground. This may explain their Latin name Troglodytes which means cave dweller.
A wren's nest is made from grass, moss and leaves. The male builds the main globe-shaped nest in a tree, ivy, bush, wall, bank, or an open-fronted nest boxes. He will build a number of nests from which the female chooses one. When she makes her choice she completes the nest construction by feathering the inside.
Traditionally in Ireland the 26th December is known as Lá an Dreoilín or Wren’s Day.
The tradition is of Celtic origin and people hunt a fake wren, placing it on top of a decorated pole. Then the ”wrenboys” celebrate the wren by dressing up in masks, straw suits and colourful clothing and parading through towns and villages.
Although small, they are known as the king of the birds. One day, all the birds came together to see which of them would be king. To do this, they began to fly upwards to see which of them would fly the highest. While the birds were soaring upwards, the wren sat under the eagle's wing. When the eagle stopped soaring, the wren came out from under his wing and flew higher. The wren became king that day.
