Cuckoo (Common Cuckoo)
Cuculus canorus
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Distribution Britain 2,418 (-4.9%) Ireland 706 (-25.1%)
Numbers breeding: Britain 19,500 — Ireland 4,500 European status: 1,600,000 (2% in Britain and Ireland) British population trend: declining (+3% CBC, -15% BBS){-12%} How likely are you to record it? 1612 squares (35.9%) Ranked 32 [33] |
Breeding Cuckoos depend on the presence of their preferred host species to be able to succeed — Dunnock, Reed Warbler and Meadow Pipit account for more than 80% of 'breeding events'. They seem to have been common throughout Britain and Ireland 100 years ago, save for Orkney and Shetland. The suspicion of a decline in Ireland, particularly the west and offshore islands, was confirmed by the falling number of squares occupied in the second Breeding Atlas. Birds were also lost in western England, West Wales and Scotland — particularly the area between Aberdeen and Elgin. This has been related to a decline in Meadow Pipits and one of their other preferred hosts, Dunnock, is also in decline. The birds are very conspicuous but have large territories so the CBC is not a good scheme for monitoring them. The 15%, significant, decline in numbers recorded on the BBS over five years is of some concern. Populations certainly fluctuate but prospects do not look good.
From
The
State of the Nations Birds
Copyright © 2000 by Chris Mead