Cuckoo updates

Read the latest updates from our Cuckoos on their epic migration between the UK and tropical Africa, or track their movements in real-time on our Cuckoo migration map. If you enjoy these updates, please consider sponsoring a Cuckoo. Sponsors receive special updates about their chosen Cuckoo in the Cuckoo e-newsletter.

By year

By name

BB heads south to join the other Cuckoos

06 Dec 2012

Having been in the Chari-Baguirmi region of southern Chad since 17 September, where he was the most northerly of the Cuckoos we are still tracking, BB has now moved south to a similar latitude of the other four Cuckoos.

Locations from early evening on 4 December show that he had moved 1,310km (815 miles) south-west from his position two days previously and had become the second of the Cuckoos tagged in Scotland in 2012 to reach the Téké Plateau – the area of savanna and gallery forest in central Congo in which four of the Cuckoos tagged in East Anglia last year spent last winter. He was arriving from the north when locations were received so he will not necessarily settle in this exact area. The last transmission shows him 16km (10 miles) south-west of Okoyo – this area was visited briefly by Lyster last winter before he settled about 58km (36 miles) to the north. The nearest Cuckoo this year is Chance, who is on the edge of the Téké Plateau about 108km (67 miles) to the north-west.

Although the numbers are very small, assuming BB remains close by, the fact that the two remaining Cuckoos tagged in the south-west Highlands of Scotland are wintering in the area that harboured four of last year’s Cuckoos tagged in East Anglia possibly suggests high overlap in the wintering areas of these two populations.

Lloyd is the most southerly Cuckoo

28 Nov 2012

Further locations received yesterday morning confirmed that Lloyd continued onwards and was about 100km further south than his position on 24 November. He is now just a few km south of the town of Lodja. This new movement means that Lloyd is the furthest south of the tagged Cuckoos.

Lloyd in the Democratic Republic of Congo

27 Nov 2012

After a period of silence over the weekend, the first transmission received late in the evening of 24 November revealed Lloyd was just over 930km (577 miles) south of the last location received in the evening of 22 November. He then continued onwards, moving an additional 60km (40miles) SW during the rest of the night. He stopped in the Sankuro district, in the very centre of Democratic Republic of Congo(DRC). David, who is also in DRC to the west, is just slightly further south than Lloyd, but there isn’t much in it, and unconfirmed signals received at lunchtime today indicate that Lloyd has continued to fly south.

No change from Chris

23 Nov 2012

Chris is still settled close to the Ubangi river, transmissions from yesterday afternoon indicate. He has been in this area for nearly two months now.

David still the most southerly Cuckoo

23 Nov 2012

David is still in the same place within Democratic Republic of Congo that he has been in since 24 October and is still the most southerly of all the Cuckoos. We received transmissions from his tag yesterday.

Scottish Cuckoos sitting pretty

23 Nov 2012

BB’s tag transmitted this morning and shows that he is still in Chad. If you zoom in to his position on the map you can see he has not moved from his position on 18 September. He is 174 km (108 miles) northwest of Sarh, the third largest city in Chad and the capital of Moyen-Chari region.

We received signals from Chance’s tag yesterday and he remains in Gabon, although he is about 32km (20 miles) SW of his position on 12 November. Roy has still not reappeared, with the last date we received any information from his tag being the 4 October. We had hoped that we may have received some news by now.

Lloyd leaves CAR?

23 Nov 2012

We apologise for the silence and lack of updates over the last few weeks but our remaining Cuckoos have shown little activity. However, yesterday evening, a series of transmissions between 6pm and 8pm showed Lloyd beginning to head south. The last, unconfirmed, location showed him still in Central African Republic but 160km (100 miles) south of his previous postion. We will have to wait until the next 'on' period before we see where he is heading.

Chris moves back north

12 Nov 2012

Chris has returned north after his short southwards movement, transmitting on the 9 November, from the same location he had been in previously.

Chance in Gabon

12 Nov 2012

Chance was still in Cameroon on 7 November, having been there since 16 October. He has, however, moved rapidly south since then and by the evening of Friday 9 November, he was on the western edge of the Teke Plateau in eastern Gabon. This is a movement of 985km (611 miles) just east of due South within two days.

Chance is now one of the more southerly of the Cuckoos we are still tracking and becomes the first we have recorded in Gabon. He is, however, biogeographically the first Cuckoo from this year to enter the Teke Plateau, the area of gallery forest and savannah situated mostly in Congo where four of the five Cuckoos tagged in England last year spent the mid-winter period. We expect that BB and Lloyd will follow Chance south soon, as the northern savannahs they are currently occupying in Chad and CAR continue to dry out and areas further south receive more rain.

Cuckoo update

09 Nov 2012

There are currently just five tagged Cuckoos from which we are still receiving regular transmissions. While BB, LLoyd and David have all transmitted in the last couple of days, none of them have moved from their previous positions. Chris's tag transmitted on 7 November and showed he had made a small movement south of about 34km (21 miles), taking him closer to the Ubangi river. Chance also seems to have made a small movement recently and is now south-west of the Faro Reserve and only 54km (34 miles) from the border with Nigeria.