Sponsor a Cuckoo

Cuckoo Tracking Project

Cuckoo. Alan McFadyen

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

  • Follow our Cuckoos on the map below - use the controls to animate or step through their movements.

Cuckoo movements from 01 May 2019 to 31 March 2020

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Cuckoo positions on
 
 
 
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Current Cuckoos
Carlton II the Cuckoo Carlton II the Cuckoo

Carlton II
Status: active
Knepp the Cuckoo Knepp the Cuckoo

Knepp
Status: unknown
Lambert the Cuckoo Lambert the Cuckoo

Lambert
Status: presumed dead

Larry
Status: presumed dead
Nussey the Cuckoo Nussey the Cuckoo

Nussey
Status: presumed dead
Cuckoo 161318 portrait Cuckoo 161318 map marker

PJ
Status: active
Raymond the Cuckoo Raymond the Cuckoo

Raymond
Status: presumed dead
Robinson the Cuckoo Robinson the Cuckoo

Robinson
Status: deceased
Senan the Cuckoo Senan the Cuckoo

Senan
Status: active
Tennyson the Cuckoo Tennyson the Cuckoo

Tennyson
Status: active
Thomas the Cuckoo Thomas the Cuckoo

Thomas
Status: unknown
Valentine the Cuckoo Valentine the Cuckoo

Valentine
Status: active

View previously tagged birds

Latest updates

PJ in Liberia
24 Mar 2020
Having arrived in Ivory Coast in late February, PJ has been moving around the country a fair bit, roaming from the eastern border to the western border and back towards the capital, Yamoussoukro. Over the last few days PJ has flown 396 km (246 miles) west and is now just over the border in Liberia. He is 10 km (6.2 miles) north west of the Ivory Coast town of Toulepleu. In previous years PJ has made his desert crossing between 6 and 13 April. 

Carlton II in Liberia
24 Mar 2020
Since our last update Carlton II has flown 1,540 km (957 miles) west from Nigeria to Liberia. The most recent updates from his tag show him straddling the border between Sierra Leone and western Liberia. He also visited this area on his way North in 2019, between 9th and 17th April. He started his desert crossing on 20th April in 2019, so he may stop off in Liberia for a few weeks now. 

No news from Senan
16 Mar 2020
We haven't received any further updates from Senan since 20th Feb when he was in Congo, close to the border with Gabon. Hopefully we will hear from Senan when he starts to move north again.

Browse updates from our Cuckoos

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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