New updates received from JAC's tag last night show that he has flown 195km (121 miles) north west from DRC, over the border into the Republic of the Congo. He is now in the north eastern corner of the vast Lake Télé Community Reserve, an area of approximately 4,389 square km (1,695 sq miles) of inaccessible swamp forest in northeastern Republic of the Congo. Is this the first leg of JAC's journey North? Stay tuned to find out!
Cuckoo Tracking Project
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.
Follow our Cuckoos as they move to and from 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.
Skill required
Cuckoo movements from 02 May 2021 to 20 January 2022
View routes starting..
Cuckoo positions on
Latest updates
JAC crosses into Congo
07 Jan 2022
Daniel moves South?
06 Jan 2022
We received some weak signals from Daniel's tag on Tuesday morning suggesting that he has flown 410 km (254 miles) south from Central African Republic into the south eastern corner of Cameroon. He is now at the southern edge of Boumba Bek National Park.
Victor II
06 Jan 2022
Victor II has moved out of Gabon, departing on Christmas Day and flying 231 km (144 miles) north east into the Republic of Congo. He has returned to the same area that he visited at the end of October, on his way south.
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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