Cuckoo birds set a flight record of 6,500km in a week

Carlton II is the fastest flying cuckoo ever recorded on a journey from Africa to England.

Carlton II is named after the Carlton Wetlands in Suffolk, where the British Ornithology (BTO) tagged its track in May 2018. The cuckoo usually takes 2-3 weeks to fly from Ivory Coast (West Africa) to England, but Carlton II only needs 7 days, Standard reported on 30/4. With the help of strong winds, it overtook the other two cuckoos, PJ and Senan. When Carlton II reached the finish line, the remaining two were resting in Spain and North Africa.  

Cuckoo Carlton II was tagged in May 2018. (Photo: BTO).

The tracker shows Carlton II stopping at a golf course south of London and two other golf courses in Berkshire, Burnham Beeches, before returning to the swamp in Suffolk. It will live here in the summer and then fly to the rainforest in Gabon (Central Africa) in the winter. Carlton II must go through an arduous journey with many dangers such as high winds, thunderstorms, hail, sandstorms, droughts and long-distance cruising at sea. Since being tagged, it has flown more than 35,000km during migrations.

"It is great to see Carlton II return to England so quickly. It shows how fast this bird from the African tropics can fly when it comes to favorable migration conditions. so dangerous that we always feel relieved when they return, regardless of how quickly or slowly, " said Dr Chris Hewson, the scientist who heads the BTO's cuckoo tracking project.

BTO scientists track cuckoo to find out why nearly three-quarters of all breeding-age birds in Britain have disappeared in just 25 years.

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