An update from PJ's tag yesterday morning shows that he has flown a further 432 km (268 miles) north-west from Gabon to a new location in the Nana-Mambéré region of The Central African Republic. He is close to the border with Cameroon and just south of the area he stopped in during his migration north in 2017. From here he is likely to move west into Cameroon and then continue through west Africa towards Ivory Coast where he stopped off in 2017, 2018 and 2019.
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.
Cuckoo movements from 01 May 2019 to 20 January 2020
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Cuckoo positions on
Latest updates
PJ on the move again
15 Jan 2020
Senan in Gabon?
07 Jan 2020
We were surprised when Senan hadn't moved on in the latter part of 2019 however, the area he was in within Benin had received extra rainfall in the previous three months, and was likely to be greener than normal for the time of year. Other Cuckoos were also later moving from West Africa into the forest zone this autumn, presumably for this possible reason. A new poor quality location received in late December indicates Senan could now be in northern Gabon, in or close to the Minkébé National Park. This would be a logical position for him. The battery on the tag is low, and has been for some time, but hopefully we will receive further signals which will confirm this, so that it becomes visible on the maps shortly.
PJ heading North
06 Jan 2020
Between 22nd and 25th December, PJ flew 745 km (463 miles) north from his last location in northern Angola to his new location in eastern Gabon. This movement is similar in timing and direction to PJ's movements in 2017 when he moved to Gabon on 8th January and in 2018 when he moved to Gabon on 27th December. In previous years he has stayed in this area of Gabon until the end of January before moving further north, into Cameroon.
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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