Cuckoo Tracking Project hopes to find reason behind declining bird population

A cross-channel tracking project on the migration patterns of cuckoos, hopes to establish the reason behind the decline in the bird.

The Cuckoo Tracking Project is collaborative scheme between the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) and the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO).

Three of the Irish cuckoos tagged are from Killarney National Park, while the fourth is from Burren National Park, in Co Clare.

NPWS Conservation Ranger, and Director Irish Cuckoo Tracking project, Sam Bayley, says the project may find reasons to the declining cuckoo population, which has reduced by 27% in Ireland in three decades.

He describes how the tracking system works.

The cuckoos tagged in Killarney National Park can be tracked live here .

Photo: Valerie O’Sullivan

Photo: Valerie O’Sullivan

Photo: Valerie O’Sullivan

Photo: Valerie O’Sullivan