Woodpeckers in Ireland

stevensi

Hi everyone,


On a recent trip to London i saw a Great Spotted Woodpecker and a Green woodpecker as well as a few Nuthatch. It got me wondering why don't we have any in Ireland. I know the GSW has shown up every now and then but they don't stick around for very long (unlike the little egret). Is there any reason for this e.g lack of woodland maybe. And what are the chances of these birds breeding over here in the future?

boneless

We had woodpeckers I believe until the deforestation of the land was almost complete. Not sure if the were great spotted, green or other type. They are ocassionally seen and heard around the east coast, after being blown in from Britain I suppose.

I have a "folk memory" of hearing BWI were talking of the possible re-introduction of them in the near future... or that could just have been the voices in my head again!! :rolleyes:

Beware though... jays have been mistaken as woodpeckers... by me on more than one instance ... when they hammer nuts against the branches of trees.

Occidental

There was indeed talk of an introduction a few years ago which I think involved BWI and Duchas. There was much debate at the time about woodpeckers status as a native/non-native species and if an introduction would be a good idea. Suprisingly, I also remember much talk that our lack of forests could make the success of an introduction marginal. Don't know if it's still an intended project or has been abandoned.

gerky

@boneless afaik it was indeed the great spotted we had and that evidence suggests they faded out a few centuries ago, such a pity their a lovely bird.

boneless

gerky wrote: »

@boneless afaik it was indeed the great spotted we had and that evidence suggests they faded out a few centuries ago, such a pity their a lovely bird.

That fits in with what I heard all right. The largest tracts of native forest were felled by the late 17th and early 18th centuries. I think we will have to wait a couple of hundres years for a reintroduced forest to mature... then we can have the woodpeckers again!!

Poll Dubh

It was Conor Kelleher from the Irish Wildlife Trust who was talking about re-introducing them but I've not heard anything about it in a couple of years.