As we head into December, we can expect our tagged Cuckoos to be fairly settled for the next few weeks. They should now be firmly in their ‘wintering’ grounds in the Congo basin, feasting on tropical insects, and trying to avoid getting eaten themselves – there are lots of predatory birds, mammals, and reptiles in that region!

Of the 11 tagged Cuckoos that left the UK in summer, we have continued to receive regular updates from nine. 

The furthest east of our birds are Joe and Sayaan, both of whom are in Democratic Republic of the Congo. They are currently just 12 km (7 miles) away from each other, in the dense rainforests to the north of the Busira River. 

Our most southerly Cuckoo is Cleeve, deep in the Republic of the Congo, close to the Léfini Faunal Reserve. He is in the same area as Wingston, who has in recent days been less than 40 km (25 miles) away from him. Cuckoo Norman is the west of these two birds, close to the Gabon border.

Furthest north we find Jim and Arthur, both in Gabon. Nearby is Ashok, less than 50 km (31 miles) to the south of Jim. Frederic has recently crossed the border of Republic of the Congo and headed east into the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where he is currently by the large freshwater Lake Mai-Ndombe.

Two birds, Cores and Wilfrid, made it across the Sahara but after some promising movements, we soon lost track of them. Cores’ signal stopped on 27 October, when he was in southern Chad, while we last heard from Wilfrid on 20 September as he moved toward Nigeria from Niger. It may be that these two ‘lost’ Cuckoos have reached the end of their lives, or that the satellite tags have failed. 

We may never know what happened to this pair, but we do know that each bird has provided us with remarkable information that has allowed us invaluable insights into the complex stories of Cuckoo migration. 

The remaining Cuckoos will likely remain in their wintering areas until February, when we will hope to see some movement as they prepare to commence their long flights back to Europe for the 2026 breeding season. For some of this Cuckoo cohort, it will be the first time that we get to follow their remarkable journeys north. 

We will, as always, keep an eye on the Cuckoos and as soon as we see signs that they’re starting to head back we will post updates and track their incredible progress once more! 

Arthur is continuing to move south and in the last week has flown almost 300 km (186 miles) into eastern Gabon, close to the border with Republic of the Congo. 

Since leaving Suffolk in early July, Arthur has flown well over 8,000 km (c5,000 miles) to get to his current location. 

When we last checked in with Arthur a week ago, he had just arrived in north-west Cameroon. 

Now, he has headed 750 km (466 miles) into the Congo, where he is just on the western fringes of the Odzala-Kokoua National Park, in the Republic of the Congo.

In recent days, Arthur has left his chosen spot in north-eastern Benin, where he has spent the last few weeks. He has flown approximately 815 km (506 miles) to the south-east, sweeping across Nigeria and has just popped over the border into Cameroon.  

He is currently in the Takamanda National Park, a vast protected area set up in 2008 to help protect the endangered Cross River gorilla.

In the last couple of weeks, Arthur has moved around 780 km (485 miles) eastwards through Burkina Faso, and into Benin. 

He is currently on the country’s eastern border, close to Nigeria, and just north of the Kainji Lake Marine Reserve. 

Arthur has continued his leisurely tour of the Sahel region and has moved from Mali into Burkina Faso in the last few days, as we’d anticipated. Currently just 120 km (75 miles) west of the capital Ouagadougou, he is hot on the trail of Cuckoo Jim!

Following a lengthy spell in eastern Senegal, Arthur has now started moving again. 

In the last few days, he has covered around 400 km (248 miles) and is now in south-west Mali. Currently alongside the Baoulé River and just outside the Kongassambougou Reserve, it looks likely that Arthur is poised to join Cuckoo Jim in Burkina Faso shortly. 

When we last checked in with Arthur five days ago, he was making substantial progress though Morocco. He is now in north-east Senegal, following the mighty Senegal River along the south-west Mauritanian border. 

With rain and thunderstorms currently moving through this region, it may provide welcome relief after a lengthy desert crossing!

Our second tagged bird to reach Africa, Arthur took a quite different route to Ashok, travelling west through Spain and down to Morocco. 

He took off just to the west of Cadiz, flying across an expanse of open sea before arriving on the Moroccan coast close to the city of Casablanca. From here he continued south past Marrakesh, toward the borders of Western Sahara and western Algeria. 

Arthur is another of our Cuckoos who seemed quite content hanging around in Suffolk, before suddenly springing into action and heading south. He is already in south-western Spain, more than 1,750 km (1,087 miles) away from where he was tagged at Worlingham Marshes on 31 May. 

Just north of Seville, Arthur is in the wooded hillsides within the Dehesas de Sierra Morena Biosphere Reserve, known for its Iberian Lynx, Black Vultures and Wolves. 

Arthur was tagged at Suffolk Wildlife Trust’s Worlingham Marshes reserve, in the Broads National Park on May 31.