ONE of the Dartmoor cuckoos which was tagged with a tracker last year has completed the long journey from their African wintering grounds to its Dartmoor home – and keen twitchers are still being asked to keep an ear out for the birds at Meldon. The Dartmoor cuckoo project began with the tagging of four birds in May 2013, and organisers had been waiting for the two birds who survived the arduous migration to Africa to make it back to British shores. The project is part of a national project set up by the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO), and managed locally by Dartmoor National Park Authority (DNPA) in partnership with Devon Birds. The tagging project has been set up to learn about the migration of Dartmoor's cuckoos in an effort to understand the alarming decline in cuckoo numbers. One of the birds tagged, named Whortle, arrived back on Dartmoor on Friday, May 2, 500 metres from his original tagging site. The tracker for the second of the two surviving birds, Tor, has gone silent. Organisers think the tag has developed a fault, as there have been several periods of radio silence from the tracker. The two other tagged birds, Ryder and Dart, both perished on their trip to Africa. You can follow the progress of the two birds by visiting http://www.dartmoor.gov.uk/lookingafter/laf-naturalenv/cuckoo">www.dartmoor.gov.uk/lookingafter/laf-naturalenv/cuckoo Moorland around Meldon is one of the best places on the moor to hear the distinctive song of the cuckoo. Bird watchers and walkers are being asked to keep an ear out for the birds and report any locations where cuckoos can be heard. Devon Birds has created a live web map that allows members of the public to enter their cuckoo sightings on a simple form. That record, together with any others that have already been submitted can be seen on the map at http://www.devonbirds.org/birdwatching/recording/cuckoos">www.devonbirds.org/birdwatching/recording/cuckoos If you want to report your cuckoo sightings visit http://www.devonbirds.org">www.devonbirds.org