We haven't heard from Markoo since the January 13. This is not too unusual as we often 'lose' Cuckoos for lengthy periods of time when they move into thick tree cover. However, the last bits of data we received from Markoo's tag suggest that he has almost certainly perished. The temperature of the tag had dropped and begun cycling with day and night temperature and was not as stable as it would be on a live bird.
Updates from our Cuckoos
Read the latest updates from our Cuckoos on their epic migration between the UK and tropical Africa, or track their movements in real-time on our Cuckoo migration map.
- If you enjoy these updates, please consider sponsoring a Cuckoo. Sponsors receive special updates about their chosen Cuckoo in the Cuckoo e-newsletter.
We have lost Markoo
07 Mar 2017
Markoo in DRC
17 Jan 2017
Markoo has headed north again and is now in DRC, close to the border with Cabinda, a disputed northern exclave of Angola. He is currently 48km (30 miles) south and east of Cabinda city.
Markoo in Angola
17 Nov 2016
By the 10 November, Markoo had ventured 365km (225 miles) south within the Republic of Congo. A couple of days later, on the 12, he had journeyed a further 320km (200 miles) and was the latest Cuckoo to join the four already in Angola. This is a record number of our satellite-tagged Cuckoos wintering in Angola in the same year. This is probably due to lower-than-average rainfall in the areas of the Congo rainforest we have seen them winter in before and higher-than-average rainfall in Angola.
Markoo heads for the Congo rainforest
27 Oct 2016
On the 19 October, Markoo was still in Nigeria but over the last week or so he has moved south. By the 20 October he was in Cameroon, by the 22 he was transmitting from eastern Gabon and on 24 October signals were received from the Republic of Congo, just south of Kelle. He is now in the Congo rainforest and we will have to wait to see whether he stays here or moves further south still. We currently have three Cuckoos in Angola, 700km (435 miles) sosuth of Markoo's location.
Markoo still settled
04 Oct 2016
Locations received on 4 October show Markoo is still in northwest Nigeria and is still alive and well. He has been here for a month but it might not be long before he heads south and east and into the Congo rainforest.
No movement from Markoo
19 Sep 2016
Markoo seems settled in northwest Nigeria, at what must be his stopover site before heading east towards the Congo rainforest.
Markoo in Nigeria
06 Sep 2016
Markoo successfully crossed the desert and is currently in northwest Nigeria. He is on the edge of a small river valley twenty miles northwest of Ranko.
Markoo crossing the Sahara
26 Aug 2016
A location received in the early hours of 25 August showed Markoo on his way across the Sahara. He was in central Algeria and just about halfway through the desert crossing. However, we received a poor quality location around breakfast time on 26 August that suggests he has made it across and is on the southern edge of the desert. We will have to wait for better quality locations to confirm this. Fingers crossed for Markoo.
Markoo has left Suffolk
12 Jul 2016
Locations received from Markoo's tag around lunchtime on 9 July showed that he was in southern Picardy, in an area of woodland on the outskirts of Braine, northern France. He didn't remain here long, by teatime on 11 July he was in an area of woodland to the west of Lyons in southern France.
Markoo still in Suffolk
08 Jul 2016
Since he was fitted with his tag, Markoo hasn't left King's Forest. The information recieved from his tag shows that all is well with him, so we would expect him to leave soon.
Share this page