Irish cuckoo lands home in Ireland after 9000km round trip to Africa

An Irish cuckoo has flown 9000km from Africa to Ireland after spending winter in the rainforests of Central Africa. 

The National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) has confirmed that Cuach KP, one of the first Irish cuckoos to be tagged as part of a Cuckoo Tracking Project, has landed home in Killarney National Park. 

Cuach KP, along with two other Irish cuckoos, was tagged in Killarney National Park in May 2023 and is the first to successfully make the long journey home for the summer months. 

On arrival into Ireland on Monday, KP made a short stop in Fermoy before making his way to Derrycunihy in Killarney National Park, the place where he was originally tagged before his release. 

While the cuckoo has been well-studied during the breeding season, very little is known about the routes they take once they head off on migration or where in Africa they spend the winter months. 

The Cuckoo Tracking Project was set up by the NPWS together with the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) last year to better understand their migration patterns and the habitat pressures on the cuckoo population. 

The birds were given names and fitted with satellite tags so that their movements could be tracked.

Cuach KP travelled an extraordinary 9000km to and from the Kingdom, covering two continents and several countries. 

After wintering in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Cuach KP was tracked in Morocco, Cameroon, Ghana and the Ivory Coast, before flying northwards from the Western Sahara, where it was tagged south-west of Marrakesh before heading for Kerry.

Minister of State for Nature, Heritage and Electoral Reform, Malcolm Noonan, said, "The return of Cuach KP is real success story for this project, and the partnership between the NPWS and the British Trust for Ornithology. Projects like this really helps us to learn more about precious birds such as the cuckoo and how we can all keep them safe.”

Divisional Manager at Killarney National Park, Eamonn Meskell, said, "We’re delighted that Cuach KP has found his way home to Killarney during the first year of this monitoring project. Cuckoos are such an intriguing bird and one that we associate with the arrival of summer. 

"All of us at Killarney National Park are now hoping that the two other birds tagged as part of this project will follow and join him here over the coming days.”

NPWS Conservation Ranger, Sam Bayley, who set up the project in conjunction with BTO, said, "Satellite tagging gives us a clear picture of the cuckoo's journey for the first time, to Africa and back to Ireland. 

"KP's journey was a round trip of nearly 9000km ending with an epic sea crossing from northern Spain direct to Ireland across the Bay of Biscay.

"Big sea crossings haven't been recorded in cuckoos in Europe before, so that’s a really interesting twist." 

Reports from the satellite tagging system indicate that other cuckoos from the project are also on their way. 

Cuach Torc is currently in the vicinity of Brittany; he had settled near the Salonga National Park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and later flew over 2,000km west to Ghana, and has since began flying North via Casablanca in Morocco. 

Cuach Cores was the last of the three to leave. 

He remained in the South of France for several months before flying South as far as the Congo Basin in the DRC. 

The bird migrated west through Cameroon, and has been tracked north-west across Nigeria and Lagos en route to Ireland, where he is already making quick progress. 

Cuckoos, or Cuach as gaelige, are a summer migrant to Ireland and are a unique bird in Ireland; they lay their eggs in other birds' nests and have no involvement in raising their young. 

Adult birds are resident here from April to early July. 

Across Ireland, the cuckoo has seen a 27% reduction in breeding distribution between the first national census, Bird Atlas (1968-1972), and the most recent Bird Atlas (2007-2011).