The arrival of cuckoos often signals the start of the summer season, yet for years, bird enthusiasts and ornithologists have pondered about their hibernating location. While we have a wealth of knowledge about their breeding patterns in Europe, our understanding of their winter hideouts, barring the fact that they are likely in Africa, remains largely unclear.
A groundbreaking project launched by the National Parks and Wildlife Service in conjunction with the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) has, for the first time, followed the migratory patterns of cuckoos travelling from Europe to Africa. One such bird, Cuach KP, was among the three tagged in Killarney National Park in May 2023.
Cuach KP made a triumphant return to Ireland on Monday following an impressive 9,000 kilometre round journey that started in Congo. This voyage incorporated a daunting sea route from Spain’s Bay of Biscay to Ireland. Sam Bayley, a conservation ranger from the National Parks and Wildlife Service, acknowledged that accomplishing such a lengthy maritime journey without halting is quite an intriguing revelation, as no such sea crossings had been reported in European cuckoos beforehand.
The cuckoo’s triumphant migration was celebrated as a “real success story” by the Minister of State for Nature, Malcolm Noonan. He emphasised how such initiatives considerably enhance our knowledge about the treasured cuckoo and lead to better protection strategies.
Satellite-tracking systems have shared promising reports, suggesting other tagged cuckoos are also en route to Ireland. Cuach Torc is believed to be near Brittany, while Cuach Cores, the last to depart, made successful progress towards Ireland from Algeria yesterday.
Cuckoos, also known as Cuach in Gaelic, journey to Ireland for the warmer summer months. Adult birds call Ireland home from April to early July, after having hibernated in Africa. What sets those birds apart in Ireland is that they have the unusual habit of laying eggs in the nests of other birds, impersonally distancing themselves from any further rearing of their offspring.
In Ireland, there has been a noteworthy decline in the breeding distribution of the cuckoo bird by 27% between the period of the initial national census, Bird Atlas, conducted from 1968 to 1972 and the latest one done between 2007 and 2011. In addition, the decrease in the population of hen harrier birds in Northern Ireland by 26% has sparked worry.