IE123
Lough Oughter


Country/territory: Ireland

IBA criteria met: B1i, B3, C2, C6 (2009)
For more information about IBA criteria, please click here

Area: 1,464 hectares (14.64 km2)

BirdWatch Ireland
IBA conservation status
Year of assessment (most recent) State (condition) Pressure (threat) Response (action)
2009 good low low
For more information about IBA monitoring, please click here


Site description (2000 baseline)
A complicated system of inter-drumlin lakes, basins and islands on the River Erne, County Cavan. Sheltered shores support swamp and marsh habitat and the site also includes adjacent fields which occasionally flood. The site is a southward extension of Upper Lough Erne (UK site 287) in Northern Ireland.

Key biodiversity
This site is important for its wintering birds. Other species wintering in numbers of national importance are Podiceps cristatus (40 birds, 1996), Phalacrocorax carbo (139 birds, 1996), Cygnus olor (137 birds, 1996) and Anas penelope (1,544 birds, 1995).


Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Lough Oughter (Ireland). Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/lough-oughter-iba-ireland on 23/12/2024.