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Scientists amazed after five migrating cuckoos fitted with GPS trackers meet up in the same spot in Africa


All the birds (not pictured) are now relatively close, with three about as close to each other as they were when they were caught in Norfolk and Suffolk in May and June


After leaving East Anglia in June, all the birds - Clement, Kasper, Martin, Chris and Lyster - reached Africa but used very different routes



By Leon Watson
Last updated at 9:35 PM on 26th December 2011

Scientists have been left astonished after five cuckoos who headed south from Britain for the winter have congregated in the same little-known part of Africa.

British conservationists decided to track their movements to find out more about the birds' lifestyles following concerns about their dwindling numbers.

After leaving East Anglia in June, the birds - Clement, Kasper, Martin, Chris and Lyster - flew thousands of miles apart as they made their way to warmer climes.

Three of the birds, Chris, Martin and Kasper, flew down through Italy and straight across the Sahara desert.

The other two, Clement and Lyster, went to Spain and down the Atlantic edge of the continent, more than 1,000 miles to the west.
Yet now it's been discovered they are all now relatively close, in the Congo rainforest, despite having travelled around 3,000 miles south.

Incredibly, three are about as close to each other as they were when they were caught in Norfolk and Suffolk in May and June.

Experts said their journey was fraught with danger with crossing the Sahara was one of the major sources of mortality for many migrants.

Chris - named after BBC wildlife presenter Chris Packham - crossed the desert on July 23 and was in Chad negotiating a lava field around the rim of a volcano.

The trackers, fitted by scientists from the British Trust for Ornithology, transmit for 10 hours and then go into 'sleep' mode for 48 hours to allow the solar panel to recharge the battery.

Scientists wanted to use the information about their routes, wintering grounds and habitats to form conservation strategies to save them.

Cuckoo numbers have plummeted by two-thirds in the last 25 years, leaving as few as 7,000 breeding pairs migrating here from Africa each spring.

And scientists are struggling to explain a catastrophic decline in the number of birds whose annual visits are part of our folklore.

With no one quite sure what is behind the fall – which is much more pronounced in England than in Scotland – there are very real concerns about the cuckoo’s future.
Possible reasons include a drop in the hairy caterpillars it feasts on while on British soil.

Chris Hewson, research ecologist at the British Trust for Ornithology, said: 'We have gained completely new knowledge which will be invaluable in understanding the migratory cycle and planning ways to help the declining populations of these amazing birds.'

It had been thought that the cuckoo, which famously does not build its own nest, might be a victim of climate change.

Scientists feared that birds the cuckoo relies on to rear its young, such as the dunnock and meadow pipit, were nesting earlier, meaning the cuckoos weren't making it back from Africa in time to take advantage of their nests.

But research shows this isn't the case.

Deforestation and other forms of habitat destruction in Africa may also be in the frame.

But, as yet, no one is sure just where in Africa the cuckoos go – or how much they move around when they get there.

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CUCKOOS: WHERE ARE THEY?

Clement, Martin, Lyster are all wintering on the Téké plateau north of the Congo capital, Brazzaville, a sparsely-inhabited area of grasslands with forests along the rivers

Kasper is at present on the Téké plateau's southern end, about 30 miles north of Brazzaville

Chris is currently farthest to the north-west, just over the border in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

*

© Associated Newspapers Ltd

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