IE090
Ballymacoda


Country/territory: Ireland

IBA criteria met: A4iii, B1i, C2, C3, C4, C6 (2009)
For more information about IBA criteria, please click here

Area: 602 ha

BirdWatch Ireland

Site description (2000 baseline)
A coastal site situated north-east of Ballymacoda in County Cork and encompassing the Womanagh river estuary, comprising a winding channel flanked by marshy fields, saltmarsh and mudflats. The estuary is sheltered from the open sea by a stabilized shingle-bar and extensive sand beach. Much of the land adjacent to the estuary has been claimed for agricultural use, mainly cattle-grazing and silage, but most fields remain marshy.

Key biodiversity
This is an important wetland site, which in the past has regularly held over 20,000 waterfowl, but in recent years numbers have not reached this threshold. Additional species present in nationally important numbers include Pluvialis apricaria (8,850 birds, 1996), Pluvialis squatarola (514 birds, 1995), Vanellus vanellus (3,050 birds, 1996), Calidris alba (131 birds, 1996) and Arenaria interpres (142 birds, 1996).


Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Ballymacoda. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/ballymacoda-iba-ireland on 19/03/2024.