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! 

Having spent the last few weeks on the border of Chad and Central African Republic, Ashok has made a move of almost 500 km (310 miles) south in recent days and is currently close to the northern border of Republic of the Congo. 

After a while recovering from his Saharan crossing, Ashok has moved further south into Chad. He is now close to the border with the Central African Republic, on the edge of the Réserve de Faune de la Nana Barya, which is home to African Elephants, Lions, Leopards and Giant Elands, among many other species.

The first of our tagged birds to reach North Africa, Ashok has ploughed on with zeal, flying across the Sahara and on into Chad, covering over 3,000 km (1,864 miles) in under three days! 

In that time Ashok covered the length of Libya, flew through eastern Niger, and as of 7.26 this morning was in the Sahel region of Chad, having cleared the vast expanse of the Sahara desert.

We’d not heard much from Ashok in recent days, and he seemed to be lingering in Suffolk. However, we suddenly received a signal telling us that he had not only left the UK, but had crossed mainland Europe, flown across the Mediterranean via Monaco and Sardinia, and made landfall in Tunisia over the weekend! 

Now in northern Libya, Ashok is the first of our tagged birds to start the next leg of the major migration journey – crossing the Sahara!

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

Ashok is sponsored by all at Xenolith Ltd and is named in memory of Ashok Kumar Kapur.