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Waterford species list

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Bird species recorded in Co Waterford
 
Based on occurrences up to 31 December 2004, 278 species have been formally documented and accepted as having occurred in a wild or naturalised state in Co Waterford.  Records of a further 14 "pending" species, up to May 2008, are either awaiting formal acceptance and publication by the Irish Rare Birds Committee (in the Irish Bird Report, not yet published for 2005-2007) or have not yet been submitted to the IRBC.  The provisional county total is thus 292 species, subject to acceptance of these additional species.  Corrected & updated 13 May 2007.
 
See foot of page for details of distinctive subspecies that have also occurred in the county, and for additional species (e.g. ship-assisted or escapees) that have occurred but which are not admitted to the "full" Waterford and/or Irish lists.
 
Downloadable list  click here

Key to species status in Co Waterford:
A. Recorded in an apparently natural state at least once since 1st January 1950.
B. Recorded in an apparently wild state pre-1950 only (B* = globally extinct).
C1. Species, originally introduced by man, that now have self-sustaining feral breeding populations.
C2. Species occurring as vagrants from self-sustaining feral populations outside Waterford.
P. Pending - category A, subject to acceptance by the Irish Rare Birds Committee.
D1, D2, D3, D4. Other categories - see foot of page.
 
Species sequence and nomenclature follows "Checklist of the Birds of Ireland" (Irish Rare Birds Committee, 1998), with minor updates. 
 
Species or subspecies currently, or until recently, considered by the Irish Rare Birds Committee (see IRBC website for full details of recent revisions):
* Species or subspecies for which IRBC required supporting documentation (description or photos) for assessment of pre-2005 records only, but for which any post-2004 records will automatically qualify for publication in the Irish Bird Report.  (Note: for some additional species, older records, e.g. in 1980s, may also require documentation before official acceptance.)
**  Species or subspecies on IRBC's "Supplementary Accreditation Species" list:  rarities for which submission of photographs is encouraged, but for which post-2004 records will be published in the Irish Bird Report unless (a) "the circumstances and/or source of the claim is unclear", (b) "the identification is known to be controversial" or (c) "the record falls well outside the known patern of occurrence".  Pre-2005 records of these species will still require a description or photographic evidence sufficient to confirm identification.
*** Species or subspecies on IRBC's 2005 Revised Rarity List:  extreme rarities or particularly "difficult" species  requiring full documentation (description and/or photographs) before records are considered for publication in the Irish Bird Report. 

English name Scientific name Category First record
1 Red-throated Diver Gavia stellata A
2 Black-throated Diver Gavia arctica* A
3 Great Northern Diver Gavia immer A
4 Little Grebe Tachybaptus ruficollis A
5 Great Crested Grebe Podiceps cristatus A
6 Red-necked Grebe Podiceps grisegena A
7 Slavonian Grebe Podiceps auritus A
8 Black-necked Grebe Podiceps nigricollis** A Feb 1890
9 Fulmar Fulmarus glacialis A
10 Fea's/Zino's Petrel Pterodroma feae/P. madeira** A Sep 1998
11 Cory's Shearwater Calonectris diomedea* A Aug 1976
12 Great Shearwater Puffinus gravis A 1835
13 Sooty Shearwater Puffinus griseus A
14 Manx Shearwater Puffinus puffinus A
15 Balearic Shearwater Puffinus mauretanicus A Jul 1978
16 Storm Petrel Hydrobates pelagicus A
17 Leach's Petrel Oceanodroma leucorhoa A
18 Gannet Morus bassanus A
19 Cormorant Phalacrocorax carbo A
20 Shag Phalacrocorax aristotelis A
21 Bittern Botaurus stellaris** A
22 American Bittern Botaurus lentiginosus*** B Dec 1904
23 Little Bittern Ixobrychus minutus** A May 1951
24 Night Heron Nycticorax nycticorax** A Jul 2000
25 Cattle Egret Bubulcus ibis P Dec 2007
26 Squacco Heron Ardeola ralloides** A Sep 1895
27 Little Egret Egretta garzetta A Apr 1970
28 Great White Egret Ardea alba** P 1998?
29 Grey Heron Ardea cinerea A
30 White Stork Ciconia ciconia** P 2003
31 Glossy Ibis Plegadis falcinellus** B,AP Nov 1834
32 Spoonbill Platalea leucorodia** A
33 Mute Swan Cygnus olor A,C1
34 Whooper Swan Cygnus cygnus A
35 Bewick's Swan Cygnus bewickii A
36 Pink-footed Goose Anser brachyrhynchus A
37 White-fronted Goose Anser albifrons A
38 Greylag Goose Anser anser A,C1
39 Snow Goose Anser caerulescens** A Oct 1972
40 Canada Goose Branta canadensis(***) C1/D1
41 Barnacle Goose Branta leucopsis A,C1
42 Brent Goose Branta bernicla A
43 Ruddy Shelduck Tadorna ferruginea ** B Mar 1871
44 Shelduck Tadorna tadorna A
45 Wigeon Anas penelope A
46 Gadwall Anas strepera A
47 Teal Anas crecca A
48 Green-winged Teal Anas carolinensis A Jan 1981
49 Mallard Anas platyrhynchos A,C1
50 Pintail Anas acuta A
51 Garganey Anas querquedula A Jan 1964
52 Blue-winged Teal Anas discors** A autumn 1994
53 Shoveler Anas clypeata A
54 Red-crested Pochard Netta rufina** A Dec 1852
55 Pochard Aythya ferina A
56 Ring-necked Duck Aythya collaris** A Mar 1985
57 Tufted Duck Aythya fuligula A
58 Scaup Aythya marila A
59 Lesser Scaup Aythya affinis*** A Nov 1999
60 Common Eider Somateria mollissima A 1970
61