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Updates from our Cuckoos

Read the latest updates from our Cuckoos on their migration.

A final farewell to Cooper

25 Nov 2022
Keen Cuckoo followers will know that we have been growing increasingly concerned for Cuckoo Cooper as we stopped receiving updates from him shortly after he arrived in Nigeria in early September. Having looked closely at the tag data our Cuckoo scientist Dr Chris Hewson has deduced that sadly Cooper has perished. We don't know how he died, he seemed to be taking a fairly "safe" and direct route towards the Congo but he is one of two birds to have perished in eastern Nigeria this year. Cooper has given us an additional run of valuable data to add to our growing knowledge of Cuckoo ecology.

No news from Cooper

27 Sep 2022
We haven't received any further updates from Cooper since 7th September when he was still in eastern Nigeria. Hopefully we will hear from Cooper again soon.

Cooper moves into eastern Nigeria

20 Jul 2022
Cooper has flown 347km (215 miles) south east within Nigeria and is now in the north of Taraba state. He is 80km (50 miles) north west of the state capital city of Jalingo.   

Cooper moves east to Nigeria

16 Jul 2022
Having spent the last ten days in Niger, Cooper has flown 573km (356 miles) south east into Nigeria. He is now on some farmland 50km (31 miles) south east of Zaria City in north central Nigeria.

Cooper moves south in Niger

11 Jul 2022
Since our last update Cooper has flown 271km (169 miles) south into the south western corner of Niger. He is now approximately 16km (10 miles) east of the city of Dosso.  

Cooper arrives in Niger

07 Jul 2022
Over the last couple of days Cooper has been crossing some of the most desolate and inhospitable places on the planet. He has flow south through the Algerian Sahara, navigating to the west of the Hoggar Mountains, over eastern Mali and into south west Niger. By 05:38 this morning he was 286km (178 miles) north east of the capital Niamey.

Cooper enters the Sahara

05 Jul 2022
Having moved to the coast of north eastern Spain over the last few days, Cooper has pressed on across the Mediterranean and into northern Africa. A couple of lower quality signals received between 6 and 7am this morning show him over the Sahara in north central Algeria, approximately 112km (70 miles) due north of the town of Foggaret Ezzoua. The daytime temperatures in this region in July have been known to soar to 50 °C (122 °F) or even higher, so Cooper won't be hanging around here!

Cooper moves to Spain

04 Jul 2022
Over the weekend Cooper has flown 363km (225 miles) south from his last location near Cahors in central France to  north east Spain. By  10pm on Saturday night he was just south of the town of Canyelles in the south of Barcelona Province. 

Cooper blazes south through France

15 Jun 2022
Having stopped briefly just south of the city of Tours, Cooper has continued south and by 10am this morning had reached the Occitanie region of southern France. He is now approximately 11 miles due east of the historic city of Cahors.Cooper has already covered 764 km (475 miles) since leaving England. 

Introducing Cooper

13 Jun 2022

Cuckoo Cooper was the heaviest Cuckoo tagged in 2022 and one of the heaviest we have tagged during the lifetime of the project. Tipping the scales at 136 grams he is still well within the normal range for a male Cuckoo and a full 5 grams lighter than our heaviest ever bird, Karma, who was 141 grams. Cooper was tagged at Lucas Castle in the New Forest and named by the Cooper family who clubbed together to fund his tag. 



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