Project aims to find out where 'fascinating' Irish cuckoos spend winter months

Three of the four Irish cuckoos fitted with tags are from Killarney National Park and one was caught in the Burren

Arriving in late April, and laying their eggs in small birds nests, very little is known about the routes the cuckoos take once they head off on migration in July or where in central Africa they spend the winter months. Picture: Valerie O’Sullivan

A cross-channel tracking project has begun to help understand the mysterious journey of the Irish cuckoo — as well as his apparent decline and shift towards the west of Ireland.

The British Trust for Ornithology (BTO), has this year included four Irish cuckoos in its long-running cuckoo satellite tracking project. The BTO is collaborating with the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) on the project.