Current view: Text account
Site description (2000 baseline):
Site location and context
A rather narrow estuary, which widens at its mouth and comprises intertidal mudflat and saltmarsh habitats. It is situated on the east coast, at the border between Counties Louth and Meath and is the port for the town of Drogheda. The estuary has been modified by the construction of training walls on either side, to facilitate deep water access to the port.
An important site for wintering waterfowl; additional species that winter in numbers of national importance include
Pluvialis apricaria (6,000 birds, 1995),
Pluvialis squatarola (255 birds, 1996),
Vanellus vanellus (7,500 birds, 1996),
Calidris alba (163 birds, 1996),
Limosa limosa (287 birds, 1996) and
Arenaria interpres (444 birds, 1995).
Pressure/threats to key biodiversity
This estuary is threatened with urban and particularly industrial expansion, including dredging and land-claim of wetlands.
National High
International HighIBA overlaps with Wildfowl Sanctuary (Boyne Estuary; area not known). 404 ha of IBA covered by Special Protection Area (Boyne Estuary, 404 ha).
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Boyne estuary (Ireland). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/boyne-estuary-iba-ireland on 23/12/2024.
