Cuckoo Tracking Project

Help us track Cuckoos and learn even more about their epic migration

We’ve been satellite-tracking Cuckoos since 2011. We’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.

An important aspect of this project is how it helps us improve our understanding of why Cuckoo are in decline:

  • Since 1995, the number of Cuckoos has decreased by over 30%.
  • The Cuckoo is currently Red-listed as a Bird of Conservation Concern in the UK.

Our Cuckoo Tracking Project is vital and it wouldn’t be possible without the amazing support from funders and sponsors.

Sponsor a Cuckoo

​What’s next

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.

Watch the Cuckoos migrate on our map

Each Cuckoo’s tag sends us location data approximately every day, so we can follow them and learn more about their migration.

Time / skill required

  • Spend as much time as you like following each Cuckoo's migration on the map below - use the controls to animate or step through their movements.
  • No technical skills are required to support this project - just a love of Cuckoos.

Cuckoo movements from 01 May 2024 to 26 April 2025

View routes starting..
Cuckoo positions on
 
 
 
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Current Cuckoos

Cleeve
ID: 262930
Status: active
Cuach Cores. Cores

Cuach Cores
ID: 242386
Status: active
Cuach Torc. Torc

Cuach Torc
ID: 242384
Status: presumed dead
Cuthbert, tagged Cuckoo, 2024 cohort / BTO

Cuthbert
ID: 262937
Status: presumed dead

George 2
ID: 262934
Status: presumed dead

Hafren
ID: 262938
Status: active

Henry
ID: 262933
Status: presumed dead
Joe, Cranwich Heath, 2022. PTT 232670 Joe

Joe
ID: 232670
Status: active
KP. KP

KP
ID: 242388
Status: presumed dead

MacSporran
ID: 262931
Status: deceased

Nick 2
ID: 262928
Status: presumed dead
Sayaan. Sayaan

Sayaan
ID: 242502
Status: active

Severn
ID: 262932
Status: presumed dead
Trent Trent

Trent
ID: 242383
Status: presumed dead
Wilfred, tagged Cuckoo, 2024 cohort / BTO

Wilfrid
ID: 262936
Status: active

View previously tagged birds

Latest updates

Sayaan sails into Sussex
25 Apr 2025

Hot on the heels of Cores and Wilfrid, Sayaan is the third of our tagged Cuckoos to return to his breeding area this spring.

Having made his way through the Italian Alps from Genoa, via Turin, in recent days, he then took off through France in a north-westerly direction, passing Paris and heading directly for The Channel. Around 7.30 this morning (25) he flew over Worthing and continued inland and is currently just south-west of Horsham, West Sussex.

He is in the same region where he was tagged in 2023 and where he also spent last summer.

Hafren's homeward bound
25 Apr 2025

In the last three days Hafren has left his temporary home in the Cáceres province, Spain, and covered around 1,600 km (994 miles). His journey took him around the Bay of Biscay, passing over Bilbao, then Bordeaux, before heading to Nantes, and finally taking a rest just north of Lorient, in southern Brittany.

His next big flight should take him to the UK and to his Worcestershire summer residence!

Cleeve crosses into France
25 Apr 2025

Cleeve seemed quite settled in the Soria region of north-central Spain over the last few days, preparing for the next leg of his journey north. However, he has now crossed over the French border and is now just 25 km (15 miles) to the west of Bordeaux, close to the Médoc Regional Nature Park.

With good weather conditions forecast, can we expect to see Cleeve back in Suffolk over the weekend?  

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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