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Home > Migration Watch > Species > Cuckoo

Focus on species

Cuckoo 
Cuculus canorus
Photograph © Tom Holden

Identification

The unmistakable sound of the Cuckoo is a sure sign that spring has arrived.  Few people are unfamiliar with the song of the Cuckoo, but its not that often you get a good view.  Beware that Collared Doves can imitate Cuckoos very well! At first glance, a Cuckoo in flight might be mistaken for a Kestrel; they are long-tailed and long-winged and have a fast flight.  If your lucky enough to get a view of one perched you will see a grey bird about the size of a Collared Dove with long, sometimes drooping, wings and with strongly barred underparts.  The females have a slight brown tinge across the breast.  More rarely, females occur in a rufous phase, and the ground colour is brown-red.

To listen to the song of the Cuckoo click here (.wav file 203Kb).

Bird song kindly supplied by Geoffrey Sample.

Status/distribution
The Cuckoo occurs commonly throughout Britain and Ireland, occupying most habitats.  Cuckoos lay their eggs in the nests of other species and usually target Reed Warblers, Meadow Pipits and Dunnocks but over 50 species of host have been recorded in Britain!  Long-term datasets at the BTO suggest that the Cuckoo is declining, although they can be difficult to monitor by traditional census techniques.  Cuckoo abundance may have fallen because the populations of key host species such as Dunnock and Meadow Pipit have declined  (Brooke & Davies 1987).

Detailed information on Cuckoo population trends and breeding success is given on the Wider Countryside Report web pages.

Timing of migration
The first Cuckoos are usually heard in mid-April but peak migration takes place in late April/early May.  In some years they are heard as early as mid-March.  It is likely that the Cuckoos recorded at the Fair Isle Bird Observatory are of continental origin and are passing through on their way to more northerly breeding grounds.

 
Cuckoo abundance map
View latest results for
Cuckoo

Migration strategy/routes
Because full-grown Cuckoos are really difficult to catch and finding nests with young Cuckoos in is tricky, the number ringed is quite low, so we don’t have much information based on ringing data.  We don’t know where in Africa British & Irish birds spend the winter, the only recovery is of a bird ringed as a nestling found in Cameroon in January.  It is thought that at the onset of spring migration Cuckoos make a continuous flight to the southern shores of the Mediterranean.  Cuckoos arrive in southern Europe in March and it is thought that the flight north is quite rapid, reaching the south-east shores of Britain by mid-April. 

The UK Phenology Network website would also like to hear about your first Cuckoo record.

 

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