h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Has anyone heard any Cuckoo's this year?
I don't recall a year when i havent heard or even seen the occasional Cuckoo. This year however, i havent heard a single one Is there a problem with cuckoo's, or have they all gone elsewhere?
I know it's a trivial thing, but it's worried me for a few weeks now

I haven't heard one in years. Maybe the birds around here are wiseing up..

However, they have been heard in the northwest of Ireland, according to some people on the radio today.

Hhmmm...so all the Cuckoos are in Ireland...that makes sense

Now you come to mention it I haven't heard one this year. I have never seen one, but I usually here one at least once in the Spring and there has been nothing.

Will have to investigate. Perhaps RSPB or BTO might have some info.

Websailor

Good idea Webbie Let me know what you find out, i'm interested to know if anyone else has heard (or not as the case may be) of a lack of cuckoos this year.

"...so all the Cuckoos are in Ireland"

Not sure about that, but we have plenty of jackdaws..

I don't think I've heard one more than five times or so in my life.

Widecombe hill is quite reliable for them, though I haven't been there this year - I only tend to go there to climb in the summer, so if I don't have time to climb, I don't have time to visit. I'll try to make a special trip on my way home on Thursday

Hi, Venus,

A hurried look on the BTO Migration Watch site revealed the following:

<<Long-term datasets at the BTO suggest that the Cuckoo is declining, although they can be difficult to monitor by traditional census techniques.  Cuckoo abundance may have fallen because the populations of key host species such as Dunnock and Meadow Pipit have declined  (Brooke & Davies 1987).>>

If I come across anything else I will let you know. It is possible that strange weather patterns might have upset things, as it is a migratory bird.

Websailor

Thanks for the info I knew they were migratory birds, though i thought they would have already been in the UK before the wierd weather started
It's a shame they are declining, despite their unorthodox habits, i like them.

They are usually here around April when we were having lovely weather, but I didn't hear one, and I am outside a lot feeding the birds etc.

Websailor

It was peeing it down when i went through the moor, so I didn't stop. I'll try to next week or the week after, though, as I have to go that way to get to the camps

Is'nt it too late to hear Cuckoos now?
Surely they would have laid all there eggs by now?
I don't really know that much about them