‘Extraordinary’ sighting of North American heron in Mayo

A village in Co Mayo has been welcoming birdwatchers from all over Ireland and Britain in recent days following the sighting of a rare North American bird – the yellow-crowned night heron.

It is believed the bird may have arrived in Belcarra, near Castlebar, after getting caught up in the Atlantic hurricane system last Autumn.

According to Birdwatch Ireland, it is the first sighting ever of the species in Ireland or the United Kingdom.

The “extraordinary” sighting has been described as a “once in a lifetime experience”, by bird and wildlife experts.

Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, Eric Dempsey of Birds Ireland photography said there has only been one previous sighting of the bird recorded in Europe.

Mr Dempsey said that the bird will never be able to get back across the Atlantic by itself.

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However, he added, there is a good population of the bird in America, and it does not need to be returned.

“It’s fine, it’s doing well, it won’t mate. But perhaps you know, genetically, that’s a good thing. Because if it got blown off course, it may not have been the strongest. So, its genes were not passed on. And that’s the way nature is – it’s cruel in many ways,” he said.

Mr Dempsey described the bird as a smaller version of a grey heron. “It’s a chunky bird with a striking head pattern,” he explained.

“Yellow-crowned night heron gives the false impression that it has this beautiful daffodil yellow crown. It’s actually more creamy than yellow and it has a black stripe through and a while stripe underneath its eye. Then it has lovely long plumes on its on its head,” he said.

Mr Dempsey said the bird does not scare, and is “the coolest bird you’ll ever meet”, adding that the bird’s area is cordoned off and it cannot be disturbed.

However, he advised anyone trying to take a photo of it to give it space.