Updates from our Cuckoos

Almost six years after he was tagged in June 2016, Cuckoo PJ is once again speeding back to his breeding grounds in the King's Forest, Suffolk. Wintering each year in northern Angola and the Congo Basin, he returns via Ivory Coast in west Africa, a 16,000km (10,000 mile) round trip. This means that if he makes it back to Suffolk this year he will have racked up well in excess of 60,000 miles in his lifetime. We continue to be amazed by the feats of this incredible Cuckoo and remain thankful that the tag has lasted so well.

PJ has spent the last few weeks in Ivory Coast, feeding up in preparation for attempting his crossing of the Sahara. At 09:02 on Saturday morning (April 2) he was in southern Mauritania. Over the next 38 hours he continued north over the desert, flying at an average speed of 28mph and covering 1,340 km (832 miles) so that by 23:42 last night (April 3) he had reached western Algeria. His route north over the desert has taken him further east than in previous year because of stiff westerly winds. These will switch to southerly as he moves north over Algeria, giving him a welcome boost along the way. He usually progresses through Spain and France back to England, arriving back in Suffolk between 18th and 30th April. 

Worcestershire Cuckoo Calypso has been on the move, covering 1,649km (1,022 miles) from Cameroon to Ivory Coast where he joins JAC, Victor II and PJ.

Cuckoo Ellis has become the first of all of the Cuckoos we have tracked to cross the desert during March. New updates received on Monday 28 March showed that he had flown 2,550km (1,585 miles) north over the Sahara from Guinea to Morocco. Further updates that arrived at 06:45 this morning (31 March) show that he has continued north, crossing the Straits of Gibraltar and reaching Andalusia, southern Spain. He is now  just south of the Sierra de las Nieves National Park, approximately 20km north west of Marbella. Will he continue to press north or slow his pace as he nears the UK? Stay tuned to find out! 

Over the past week we have received several high quality signals that show that JAC has now made his way to Ivory Coast, albeit at a more leisurely pace than we originally thought! JAC is now in eastern Ivory Coast approximately 107km (66 miles) north east of the capital Yamoussoukro and 89km east of Cuckoo PJ. 

It appears that the previous transmission from JAC's tag which placed him in Ivory Coast was erroneous as a more recent update showed him in Cameroon, followed by Nigeria. The latest update suggests he is in south eastern Nigeria, approximately 45km north west of the city of Enugu. We expect him to continue moving West over the coming days. 

New updates received from Victor II's tag this morning (15th March) show that over the last couple of days he has flown 1,545km (960 miles) north west to Ghana, via Nigeria. He is now in south eastern Ghana, on the eastern shores of Lake Volta. 

A new update received late yesterday afternoon shows that Calypso has flown 147km (91 miles) west within Cameroon and is now in the centre of the Mpem and Djim National Park. This park covers approximately 975km2 and is made up of a mosaic of closed-canopy forest, savannah grasslands, and gallery forests forming a transition zone between the rainforests to the south and the savanna to the north. Over 76 species of mammal have been recorded here including Honey Badger, Giant Pangolin and Aardvark. Calypso has arrived just at the start of the short rainy season which lasts until the end of June. 

New updates received early this morning (4 March) show that PJ has flown 366km (227 miles) south west from Ghana into Ivory Coast. He is now in central Ivory Coast, approximately 40km north of the capital city of Yamoussoukro and just north of the town of Tiebissou. PJ knows this part of Central Ivory coast well, having stopped off here on previous northward migrations. We expect him to remain here for a few weeks before embarking on the next leg of his journey.   

Worcestershire Cuckoo Calypso has just started his journey back from Africa. Having been deep in the Congo basin for the last few months, new updates received in the early hours of this morning show that he has flown 622km (387 miles) north from Congo to Cameroon. He is now in eastern Cameroon, approximately 112km (70 miles) north of the town of Bertoua. We expect that he will begin moving into west Africa next where he will feed up before attempting to cross the Sahara.   

We last heard from JAC on 20 January when he was deep in the Congo Basin. A new update received at 07:16 this morning suggest that he has moved 3,058km (1,900 miles) west to Ivory Coast. He is approximately 70km west of Lake Bandama in central Ivory Coast.