Print pageStar species
Our star species are some of the most interesting birds you may see on your visit to the reserve.
Curlews are large, brown wading birds with very long, curved bills ideal for probing in the mud and saltmarsh on the estuary. | ) |
You can see oystercatchers at Point of Ayr at any time of year. They feed by probing their long, orange bills into the soft mud to find invertebrate food beneath the surface, or, as their name suggests, hammer open shellfish. |  |
Keep an eye out for a commotion among birds on the marsh - a peregrine may be making a fly past. They are a regular sight overhead in autumn and winter. |  |
Pintails flock here in autumn and winter. Look out for the elegant males and their amazing long tails. |  |
Watch out for Sandwich terns here in spring, as they make their way to coastal breeding colonies. They are a large, noisy tern with a yellow-tipped black bill. |  |