Since our last update Carlton II has moved 45 km (28 miles) north west from his last location near the village of Boimorto to the Fragas do Eume natural park in north-west Spain. He is now in one of the best-preserved riverside Atlantic forests in Europe.
Cuckoo Tracking Project
Help us follow Cuckoos on migration and discover why they are in decline.
We’ve lost over half the number of Cuckoos in the UK over the last 20 years.
Since 2011 we’ve been satellite-tracking Cuckoos to find out why. 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 01 May 2020 to 14 August 2020
View routes starting..
Cuckoo positions on
Latest updates
Carlton II edges north
14 Aug 2020
Valentine in Burkina Faso
14 Aug 2020
Following our last update predicting that Valentine wouldn't be moving again for a while, he of course flew 220 km (138 miles) S-SE towards the border with Burkina Faso. By yesterday evening he had flown a further 67 km (41 miles) east over the border into Burkina Faso. He is now close to the town of Barani in north-western Burkina Faso. Last year, Valentine arrived in Burkina Faso at the end of July and stayed in western Burkina Faso until mid-November.
PJ nudges east
10 Aug 2020
Since arriving in Mali, Valentine has moved 20 km (12.5 miles) west, towards the Sahel river. He is now 22 km (14 miles) north east of the town of Niono in the Ségou region of Mali. The temperature is currently 31 degrees C and it is the rainy season. In Niono, most rain falls during the 31 days centered around August 13, with an average total accumulation of 5.7 inches. Last year Valentine stayed in west Africa until mid-November so we don't expect him to make any more big movements anytime soon.
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.
Share this page