Carlton II the cuckoo is on his way back!

Carlton II the cuckoo is on his way back!

Cuckoo - David Tipling/2020VISION

Carlton II the cuckoo is on his way back from Africa to East Anglia, where he was fitted with his satellite tracking tag at Carlton Marshes in May 2018.
Carlton the cuckoo

Carlton II the cuckoo

Carlton II is part of The British Trust for Ornithology’s (BTO) Cuckoo Tracking Project, which aims to find out why we’ve lost over half of our cuckoos in the UK over the last 20 years. 

Tracking helps us understand the challenges facing cuckoos on migration. With the data collected from a cuckoo called Chris, we’ve learnt that he spent just 15% of the year in the UK, his breeding grounds. The rest of the time (47%) is spent in the Congo, and the remaining 38% on migration. 

From his wintering grounds just south of the equator in central Gabon, Carlton II began his journey back on 21st February. Since then, he’s flown via western Cameroon, western Nigeria and on 24th March was near the border between Sierra Leone and western Liberia. 

Map showing Carlton II the cuckoo's journey so far

Map showing Carlton II the cuckoo's journey so far 

We very much hope he returns safely to East Anglia – there's a long journey ahead, but we’re very much looking forward to seeing him back again. 

You can follow Carlton II’s journey on the BTO website