Data Zone
Country/territory: Ireland
IBA criteria met: A4iii, B1i, B2, C2, C3, C4, C6 (2009)
For more information about IBA criteria, please click here
Area: 4,070 ha
Site description (2000 baseline)
A large bay and estuary adjacent to Dublin city in County Dublin. This site encompasses North Bull Island, Sandymount Strand, Tolka estuary, Dalkey Island area (a number of islands and surrounding waters), and part of Dublin docks. Dublin docks was treated as a separate IBA (former site IE089) in the previous pan-European inventory (Grimmett and Jones 1989). There are extensive sand- and mudflats, saltmarsh, and sand-dunes and beaches. North Bull Island is Dublin's main recreational beach, and its two main land-uses are conservation and recreation. There is high amenity use of Dublin Bay as a whole.
Key biodiversity
This is a wetland of international importance for waterfowl, regularly supporting over 20,000 wintering birds. Species wintering in numbers of national importance include Tadorna tadorna (1,119 birds, 1995), Anas penelope (1,270 birds, 1995), Anas crecca (1,490 birds, 1995), Anas acuta (414 birds, 1995), Anas clypeata (370 birds, 1995), Pluvialis squatarola (914 birds, 1995), Calidris alba (450 birds, 1995) and Limosa limosa (466 birds, 1995). During August, large numbers of terns Sterna (typically about 5,000 and occasionally up to 30,000 birds) use Sandymount Strand as an evening roost.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Dublin Bay (Ireland). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/dublin-bay-iba-ireland on 23/11/2024.