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 02 May 2025

View routes starting..
Cuckoo positions on
02 May 2025
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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

One Show favourite Cleeve returns
28 Apr 2025

With decent weather conditions forecast, we’d anticipated the return of our final three tagged Cuckoos this weekend and so it turned out to be the case! By Sunday afternoon Cleeve was back at Cranwich Heath, where he was tagged in May last year.

Following a similar route to fellow Cuckoo Joe, Cleeve headed from the Bordeaux region up past Angers, making a sea crossing from Caen. Heading straight inland, he flew over central London, and continued on, passing the BTO headquarters in Thetford before arriving at his summer residence on the edge of Thetford Forest.      

Cleeve was the bird who gained a little fame after being featured on the BBC’s One Show, when presenter Hannah Stitfall joined BTO staff as they went out to catch and tag Cuckoos in the Brecks. It’s great to have him back, along with our other tagged birds!

Joe times it right
28 Apr 2025

Since we last checked in with Joe, when he was in south-west France, he has covered his final 1,000 km (620 miles) back to Norfolk. His route took him north though western France, crossing The Channel close to Bayeux, and arriving on UK shores at Worthing.

By midnight on Saturday, he was on the edge of Thetford Forest, and shortly after was just east of Downham Market, just a few miles from where he was tagged in 2022. He is just one day earlier than he was arriving back in 2024!  

Hafren heads 'home'
28 Apr 2025

Hafren was still in the Finistère department of Brittany on Friday afternoon, but by Sunday morning he was back in the UK. Heading north, he flew straight across The Channel, passing just 20 km (12 miles) west of Guernsey, before flying over the Dorset coast near Abbotsbury.

He continued, passing over Sherborne, Bath and Gloucester before arriving back in the area around Hill Court Farm and The Blacklands, where he was tagged on 18 May last year.

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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