In This Section
- Home
- About the College
- Governance
- College Committees & Steering Groups
- College Assembly
- College Council
- College Executive Management Committee
- College Academic Programmes and Curriculum Development Committee
- College Graduate Studies Committee
- College Research & Innovation Committee
- College Teaching Learning and Student Experience Committee
- College Student Recruitment and Outreach Committee
- College Sabbatical Research Leave Committee
- College of SEFS Adjunct Appointments Committee
- International Education Committee
- College Postgraduate Student Committee
- Athena SWAN Steering Group
- College Committees & Steering Groups
- Human Resources
- UCC STEM Awards
- Scholarships and Prizes
- Women in STEM Panel Talks
- Inaugural Professorial Lectures
- Athena SWAN in SEFS
- Proposal Calls
- Contact Us
- Science in Society Public Lecture Series
- Governance
- News
- Staff
- Schools and Departments
- Current Students
- Undergraduate Courses
- Postgraduate Courses
- International Students
- Research and Innovation
- Employability and Careers
- Outreach and Public Engagement
- Science Week
- Transition Year Programmes
New Study Demonstrates the Power of Citizen Science and Satellite Data for Monitoring Ireland’s Birdlife
11 Mar 2026
.jpeg)
A new research publication led by Dr Ramiro Crego from the School of Biological, Earth & Environmental Science, University College Cork (UCC), in collaboration with BirdWatch Ireland and the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS), highlights an innovative approach to tracking bird populations across Ireland.
The study, published in
(IBIS) International Journal of Avian Science, explores how citizen science data, satellite observations, and advanced modelling techniques can be combined at a national scale.
One of the key findings reveals a dramatic rise in the use of the eBird platform across Ireland over the past two decades. The eBird platform is among the world’s largest biodiversity-related science projects, with more than 100 million bird sightings contributed by eBirders around the world. Citizen science data is known to contain noise and sampling biases, however, despite these challenges, the research team found that their models delivered highly accurate predictions for many bird species.
The study underscores the significant potential of citizen-generated biodiversity data to support Ireland’s conservation and monitoring programmes.
One of the key findings reveals a dramatic rise in the use of the eBird platform across Ireland over the past two decades. The eBird platform is among the world’s largest biodiversity-related science projects, with more than 100 million bird sightings contributed by eBirders around the world. Citizen science data is known to contain noise and sampling biases, however, despite these challenges, the research team found that their models delivered highly accurate predictions for many bird species.
The study underscores the significant potential of citizen-generated biodiversity data to support Ireland’s conservation and monitoring programmes.
The authors outline practical recommendations for generating more “analysis‑friendly” data within the eBird platform. If you are a eBird user and wish to provide more “analytical-friendly” checklists, some recommendations are:
- Submit short checklists, less than 1 km.
- Revisit same locations. This is important for understanding if birds are absent from a site or present but not being observed.
- More checklists away from urban centres are required when possible.
- Checklists in areas with low bird activity are also very informative to understand why certain species avoid certain areas.
These guidelines aim to improve the use of data for future research and monitoring purposes.
College of Science, Engineering and Food Science
Coláiste na hEolaíochta, na hInnealtóireachta agus na hEolaíochta Bia
Contact us
Block E, Level 3, Food Science Building, UCC, Cork, T12 YN60.