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Historic records of Magpie in Ireland (1 Viewer)

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badger

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Can anyone help me with some info regarding the historical occurence of Eurasion Magpies in Ireland - i.e. have they "always" (last couple of thousand years anyway) been present or are they fairly recent inhabitants (last couple of hundred years)?
 
Hi badger and from the Moderators and Admin of Bird Forum,welcome.
I'm sure someone will help you with your question and in the meantime have a look around and get to know the site.
 
Hi Badger,

Welcome to BirdForum!

From The Historical Atlas of Breeding Birds in Britain and Ireland (Holloway 1996; Poyser):

In Ireland, many writers testified to the absence of Magpies until the early years of the 17th century. A small flight of 'under a dozen' Magpies was noted arriving from the east in Wexford about 1676, and by 1684, Magpies were breeding there. . . The entire island had been colonised by the 1850s.
Click to expand...
Seems amazing that someone both witnessed and recorded their very first arrival, at a time when binoculars didn't exist, birding wasn't a widespread pasttime, and even the ability to read & write was probably not too common.
How many other British or Irish landbird firsts have actually been seen flying in off the sea? Precious few, I suspect.

Michael
 
Michael Frankis said:
Hi Badger,

Welcome to BirdForum!

From The Historical Atlas of Breeding Birds in Britain and Ireland (Holloway 1996; Poyser):


Seems amazing that someone both witnessed and recorded their very first arrival, at a time when binoculars didn't exist, birding wasn't a widespread pasttime, and even the ability to read & write was probably not too common.
How many other British or Irish landbird firsts have actually been seen flying in off the sea? Precious few, I suspect.

Michael
Click to expand...
Goodness me, birdwatching didn't begin when Mr. Kowa Leitzeiss invented his first pair of binoculars... When I was little - and my brother still - we never had binoculars yet knew every bird on our patch, nests and all.
 
Hi badger,

Just found this thread as I was browsing around. I come from County Waterford on the south coast and in my list of first county recordings, Magpie was first recorded in Waterford in 1672 by a guy named "McLysaght".
As for watching birds coming in off the sea to "colonise" for the first time, I suspect Collared Dove and Little Egret are the main ones in living memory.
We have Little Egrets breeding in abundance now...10 years ago they were still a rarity.

Regards
 
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