Over the last couple of days Bluey has left Knepp and flown approximately 15km (9 miles) south east towards Shoreham-by-Sea in West Sussex. After popping brielfy into Buckingham Park, he has been exploring the area around the village of Upper Bleeding. It'll be interesting to see whether this is the start of his migration or if he will head back towards Knepp.
Cuckoo Tracking Project
What have the Cuckoos taught us?
When the Cuckoo Tracking Project began, we knew very little about what our breeding Cuckoos did once they left the UK for the winter months.
Amost 100 tagged birds later, our new blog explores what we have learned and the questions we're still asking.
Help us follow Cuckoos on migration and discover why they are in decline
The Cuckoo is currently Red Listed as a Bird of Conservation Concern in the UK, due to its population decline.
Since 2011 we’ve been satellite-tracking Cuckoos to find out why they are declining. We’ve learned lots of vital information which could help us to understand our Cuckoos, such as how the different routes taken are linked to declines, and some of the pressures they face whilst on migration — but there is still more to discover.
We now need to look more closely at how dependent they are on, and how much their migration is linked, to the drought-busting rains of the weather frontal system known as the Inter Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) as they move out of the Congo rainforest and begin to head back to the UK via West Africa.
- This project wouldn't have been possible without the amazing support from funders and sponsors. Read more about the project and find out how you can get involved.
- We have been able to share our expertise around tracking Cuckoos with other international studies, such as the Beijing Cuckoo Project.
Follow our Cuckoos as they move to and from Africa
Skill required
Cuckoo movements from 01 May 2023 to 08 June 2023
View routes starting..
Cuckoo positions on
Latest updates
Bluey moves south
08 Jun 2023
Introducing Cuckoo Michael
07 Jun 2023
Cuckoo Michael was tagged on Loddon Common in the Norfolk Broads, and after retrieving him from the nets, the team made the exciting discovery that he was already fitted with a BTO ring. We soon discovered that he had been ringed in May 2019 at Wicken Fen in Cambridgeshire. We were touched to discover that the ringer was the late Michael Holdsworth, a member of the Wicken Fen Ringing Group and a wonderfully supportive BTO member who sadly passed away unexpectedly in 2019.
An anonymous donor has kindly agreed for us to name this bird Michael in his memory. Having been instrumental in our Spotted Flycatcher tracking work, Michael would have been thrilled to know that the Cuckoo he had ringed had been recaught and that we would be tracking his movements from now on. Since being tagged, Michael has remained at his breeding grounds on Loddon Common.
Introducing Jasper
07 Jun 2023
Jasper was the first Cuckoo tagged in 2023.
Since being tagged on 12 May, he has remained near his tagging location in the King’s Forest, a few miles south-west of our headquarters in Thetford.
Project Lead
Email Contact:
cuckoos@bto.org
Project timeline, contributions & findings
Project timeline
- 5/11 - First round of five Cuckoos tagged, wintering sites in the Congo identified
- 3/12 - Different routes discovered on return journeys
- 2016 - First scientific paper published on on the routes of our Cuckoos
Contributions & findings
Support the project
You can help keep this important project going by either giving a donation, becoming a Cuckoo sponsor, or gifting a sponsorship to someone else. We greatly appreciate the support the project has received, allowing us to continue to monitor this endangered species.
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