Current view: Text account
Site description (2000 baseline):
Site location and context
An almost land-locked bay, situated next to Malin Head on the north County Donegal coast. At its mouth Doagh Isle on the western shore encloses most of the bay, which at low tide is largely exposed mud- and sandflats, with some rocky substrate. The Isle consists of machair and sand-dunes, the latter also being present on the eastern shore of the bay, again at its mouth. Feeding fields for geese
Branta, adjacent to the bay, are included. Land-uses include intertidal shellfish cultivation, and recreation.
Trawbreaga Bay is the most northerly wetland in Ireland and is important for a diversity of wintering waders and wildfowl.
Two pairs of
Falco peregrinus are known to breed in the vicinity of the site.
Pressure/threats to key biodiversity
There may be some disturbance to wintering birds due to wildfowling and water-sports, while intertidal shellfish cultivation may negatively affect habitat quality. The level of sand and gravel extraction which took place in the past is now much reduced.
National High
International HighIBA overlaps with Wildfowl Sanctuary (Trawbreaga Bay; area not known). 1,003 ha of IBA covered by Ramsar Site (Trawbreaga Bay, 1,003 ha). 1,003 ha of IBA covered by Special Protection Area (Trawbreaga Bay, 1,003 ha).
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Trawbreaga Bay (Ireland). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/trawbreaga-bay-iba-ireland on 23/11/2024.
