The race is on! Tracking Cuckoos on migration - British Trust for Ornithology (BTO)

The UK’s breeding Cuckoos are starting to set off on their travels south, and satellite technology is continuing to help scientists from the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) to understand the pressures that these birds face, as they make their annual migrations to central Africa and back.

Cuckoos are a widespread and familiar bird across much of Britain and Ireland, and most people recognise their famous song. Sadly, fewer of us get to hear that strident eponymous ‘cuck-coo’ sound these days, as we have lost more than a third of our breeding Cuckoos during the last three decades.

For many years, researchers from BTO have been investigating the many facets of these fascinating birds’ lives, trying to better understand the causes behind these continuing, and concerning declines.

This spring, BTO ornithologists have once again been busy catching and tagging Cuckoos in Scotland and England, while colleagues from The National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) have been doing the same in Ireland, as part of an ongoing project, launched back in 2011.

Over the last 15 years, researchers have fitted state-of-the-art satellite tags to more than 140 Cuckoos from around Britain and Ireland. These tags allow scientists to follow the birds’ routes in real time, meaning that they can identify potential obstacles and challenges that the remarkable long-distance travellers face as they make their epic journeys across continents. A further nine Cuckoos have also been fitted with highly accurate GPS tags that will allow the experts to see the birds’ routes and habitat use in even finer detail.