We’ve been satellite-tracking Cuckoos since 2011 to find out why they are in decline:
Our Cuckoo Tracking Project is vital and it wouldn’t be possible without the amazing support from funders and sponsors.
Sponsor a CuckooWe’ve learned lots of vital information, such as how the different migration routes are linked to declines, and some of the pressures Cuckoos face whilst on migration, but there is still much more to discover.
We now need to look more closely at how dependent Cuckoos 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.
Each Cuckoo’s tag sends us location data approximately every day, so we can follow them and learn more about their migration.
Rather than following a more land-based route, KP suddenly left northern Spain and set off due north, crossing the Bay of Biscay and continuing his flight over water, covering some 1,090 km (677 miles)!
Skirting past the Isles of Scilly and pushing north, at the time of his last signal KP was just 70km (43 miles) from the south east coast of Ireland. Once he makes landfall will he head straight to Killarney National Park, where he was tagged on 17 May last year?
With a little encouragement from the southerly winds moving up through the continent, Trent powered north covering around 1,068km (663 miles) over the weekend.
Ater crossing the Channel he spent some time in Somerset before moving north again and is currently in the Malverns in Worcestershire. He is around 1km (.6 mile) away from where he was originally caught and tagged in May 2023!
Demonstrating just how site-faithful these Cuckoos can be, Joe has arrived back in the Brecklands in Norfolk, less than 20km (12 miles) from where he was tagged in early summer 2022. He is just five days later than his return to the same area in 2023.
Since leaving the Bordeaux region a few days ago, he has covered around 950km (590 miles), flying due north, crossing the Channel close to Bayeux and hitting UK soil around Bognor Regis.
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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