Current view: Text account
Site description (2000 baseline):
Site location and context
Two large islands and surrounding rocks, 4 km west of the Mullet peninsula in County Mayo. The northern island is dominated by machair and has a small lake. The southern island is machair-covered in the northern part, with a heath-covered hill and ridge dominating to the south. The islands have been uninhabited since 1932, but there is still grazing of cattle and sheep.
This is the most important wintering site for
Branta leucopsis in Ireland (birds also use sites 042 and 044). Other wintering birds of national importance (no more recent data) include
Pluvialis apricaria (1,500, 1987),
Calidris alba (200, 1987),
Calidris maritima (175, 1987) and
Arenaria interpres (400, 1987). After an absence from the islands since the 1960s,
Crex crex have returned to breed (2 birds, 1998). The islands comprise one of the top sites in Ireland for shorebirds breeding on machair, e.g.
Haematopus ostralegus,
Vanellus vanellus and
Calidris alpina.
Pressure/threats to key biodiversity
Day-trippers may cause disturbance to nesting birds. The site overlaps with a proposed candidate Special Area for Conservation by 272 ha (Inishkea Islands; area not known).
National Partial
International PartialIBA overlaps with Wildfowl Sanctuary (Inishkea Islands; area not known). 272 ha of IBA covered by Special Protection Area (Inishkea Islands, 272 ha).
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Inishkea Islands (Ireland). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/inishkea-islands-iba-ireland on 23/11/2024.
