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! 

Wilfrid has been in no big hurry since he arrived in Senegal in mid-July. However, a couple of weeks ago, he finally left Senegal and headed across southern Mauritania, through Mali, cut across north-eastern Burkina Faso, and into Niger. 

Over the course of just five days he covered approximately 2,100 km (1,300 miles). He is currently close to the Nigerian border, just 17 km (10 miles) north of the River Gagere.

In the last few days, Wilfrid has forged on through Western Sahara, followed the Atlantic coast south through Mauritania and is currently heading inland into eastern Senegal.  

This time last year he was still in Spain, so he is well ahead of where he was on this date in 2024. Will he head to Angola to spend the winter months again?

Since our last update just two days ago, when Wilfrid was still in central western Spain, he has covered almost 1,500 km (930 miles). He left the Iberian Peninsula close to the Guadiana River mouth on the border of Spain and Portugal, crossed the Gulf of Cadiz and followed the Moroccan coast before heading inland and continuing into Western Sahara. 

As one of our last tagged Cuckoos to leave the UK, he is now the second furthest south!

Wilfrid set off in earnest on 1 July, and in just a couple of days had swiftly covered around 800 km (500 miles), making his way from Suffolk to the banks of the Gironde estuary in southwestern France. 

From here he cut across the south-eastern corner of the Bay of Biscay, entering Spain between Bilbao and Santander. He is currently close to Embalse de Valdeobispo, a small lake on the Alagón River in the province of Cáceres.

Once again, Wilfrid went quiet for a short while, leaving us guessing as to his whereabouts following his arrival in central Spain in early April. Our last signal placed him near Guadalupe, then over the weekend we received notification of his arrival in Suffolk – our first tagged bird to return! 

He is back in the same area near Worlingham Marshes, within the Broads National Park, where he was tagged in early June last year, further highlighting just how site-faithful these birds are! 

We hadn’t received any signals from Wilfrid since March 20, when he was still in south-east Guinea. Any concerns that we may have had for his wellbeing and whereabouts were joyously dashed yesterday when it became clear that he’d made significant progress since his last check-in.

At some point in the last 11 days he headed north in earnest, clearing the Sahara and arriving in the Extremadura region in central Spain! Currently just north of Guadalupe, he has covered at least 3,500 km (2,174 miles) since leaving Guinea and in excess of 7,000 km (4,350 miles) since departing his wintering grounds in Angola.

Of all our tagged Cuckoos, Wilfrid was the one who wintered the furthest south this year and he is now by far the most northerly of our birds!

Having spent the last few months deep in the forests of north-west Angola (furthest south of all our tagged Cuckoos), Wilfrid is now clearly feeling the urge to head back north.

He has made a massive leap, covering multiple African countries, passing through Gabon and western Cameroon before arriving in Nigeria a few days ago.

From here, he has continued his journey, sweeping past a further four countries until arriving at his current location in south-eastern Guinea. He has already covered approximately 3,700 km (2,300 miles) since leaving his wintering quarters in Angola.

Of all our tagged Cuckoos, Wilfrid is the bird who has gone furthest south at this time, and he is currently in north-west Angola, close to the mouth of the mighty Congo River. 

He has travelled in excess of 9,000 km (5,592 miles) since leaving his Suffolk breeding grounds in July!

After fuelling up and resting in West Africa, Wilfrid has moved eastwards, passing through Mali and into Burkina Faso.

In the past few days he has continued on into southern Niger, and our latest signal show him currently on the border with north-west Nigeria. He is just to the north of the Gagere River, approximately 100 km (62 miles) from the city of Maradi.    

Wilfrid is slowly making his way toward the Guinea border. 

He has spent the past couple of days in the wooded savannah and arid forests close to the Niokolo-Koba National Park, a World Heritage Site and home to Lions, Chimpanzees, Hippos and around 330 bird species.