Dartmoor cuckoo Whortle tracked in Italy

Summer is here and once again the call of the cuckoo has fallen silent across Dartmoor. 

Because even though the cuckoo may be one of our most well-known birds, the adult birds only spend about 2 months of the year in this country. The rest of the time they are on their way to, or in their wintering grounds south of the Sahara.

For the past two springs Devon Birds (DB) has teamed up with Dartmoor National Park Authority (DNPA) to fund the satellite tagging of Dartmoor cuckoos to track their movements between Dartmoor and Africa.

This is part of a national cuckoo-tagging project that has been running since 2011, and is managed overall by the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO). Whortle who was tagged last year is joined this summer by Emsworthy and Meavy (sadly Wistman died on Dartmoor two weeks after being tagged and is assumed to have been predated).

The three cuckoos have spent recent weeks on their own Tour de France towards Italy and Spain.  Whortle has been tracked in northern Italy very close to the same location in the Po Valley that he visited for a short stay this time last year.

Meanwhile the baby cuckoos are still on Dartmoor preparing to fly the nest, and will make their way to Africa next month.

Follow the Dartmoor cuckoos on their travels through Europe and Africa.