A project to track cuckoos has gotten underway in order to discover where the bird spends its winter months, and what routes they take once they leave Ireland.
The cuckoo population of Ireland has shifted northwards and westwards in the country, and the movements of four of the birds will now be closely tracked.
Three cuckoos from Killarney National Park, Co. Kerry and one from Burren National Park, Co. Clare have had satellite tags fitted to them.
Minister of State for heritage, Malcolm Noonan said: “Cuckoos are fascinating creatures and the Irish population’s migration patterns are something of a mystery, so it will be very exciting to see the results of this innovative project over time.
“We’ve already seen one of the birds fly from Killarney National Park to Tipperary over the bank holiday weekend and another has shot across to the east Cork coast before double-backing to Limerick.
“It will be fantastic to get a full picture of the movements of these birds at home, during their migration and when they hopefully return to our shores.”
Cuckoos in Ireland
Cuckoos, or Cuach as gaelige, are a summer migrant to Ireland. Adult birds are resident here from April to early July, having spent the winter on the African continent.
The distribution of the breeding cuckoo population in Ireland has dropped by 27% between the first national census in 1968, to the most recent in 2011.
The cuckoo lays its eggs in other birds’ nests and has no involvement in raising their young.
The cuckoo, along with the swallow and the corncrake, is regarded in Ireland as a harbinger of summer.
The bird usually comes to Ireland in the last days of April, which is often referred to as ‘the time of the cuckoo.’
Cross-channel undertaking
The project is a cross-channel undertaking, with the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) and the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) working together.
Malcolm Noonan said: “It’s great to see our national nature agency collaborating with the BTO on such important, multi-jurisdictional research.”
Dr. Chris Hewson of the BTO and the lead scientist on the project, said: “It’s especially exciting to see birds from Ireland tagged for the first time.
“We’re looking forward to learning for the first time about the migrations of these cuckoos from the western extremity of the species’ breeding range.
“These birds will help us to better understand the pressures they face, the reasons for the population declines they are undergoing and how we can help them to successfully complete their arduous migrations in the rapidly changing world we share.”