PUBLIC help over the last two years is providing a better understanding of the lives of one of Britain’s most iconic birds.

The ‘Flight of the Cuckoo’ Project, which is a partnership between Dartmoor National Park (DNP), Devon Birds and Exeter University, has now completed its third year, with the public being asked to report their cuckoo sightings for the past two seasons.

The sighting report project was first run in 2014 and the project partners are pleased with the enthusiasm of the public response again this year, having received double the number of reports from the previous year.

The public were asked to report cuckoos they had seen or heard via a live web map. paper form or by telling a member of Dartmoor National Park staff or Devon Birds.

The records submitted can be seen on the sightings map on the Devon Birds site www.devonbirds.org/cuckoos

While this does not mean there are twice as many cuckoos on Dartmoor as there were last year, it does mean there is now a more accurate picture of arrival times, departure times, cuckoo density and preferred locations on the moor.

Naomi Barker, a DNP ecologist, said: ‘The response from the public and the ornithological community has been remarkable.

‘In England the decline in the cuckoo population has been in the order of 70% over the last 20 years. The data shows how important Dartmoor is for cuckoos within the count, with 90% of the sightings being within the national park. Their preferred habitat is the moorland fringe, with fewer records from the wooded valleys and enclosed farmland, and virtually no records from the high moor.’  

George Harris, chairman of Devon Birds, said: ‘The interactive map proved to be very popular again.  We plan to publish our new Devon Atlas in January 2016 where you will see a comparison of cuckoo distribution 30 years ago and now.

‘It shows that cuckoos have almost entirely retreated to Dartmoor for breeding as this is where their host species, the meadow pipit, still breeds in large numbers.’

Sara Zonneveld of the University of Exeter, who is studying the breeding requirements of cuckoos and ground-nesting birds on Dartmoor, said: ‘We received over 1,300 sightings from 746 members of the public — a truly fantastic result. Records were submitted between April 5 and July 2, which means we have records across the entire cuckoo breeding season.

‘This year, we received more than 150 sightings from locations outside Dartmoor, giving us valuable information on possible cuckoo strongholds in other Devon areas.’

While the records of sightings will not give an accurate picture of the number of cuckoos on Dartmoor it does indicate some of the key areas used by the birds. Meanwhile the satellite tag data is starting to indicate key migration points for the birds to ‘refuel’ and areas of potential importance for wintering in Africa.

You can view the journeys Dartmoor cuckoos took by going to www.bto.org/cuckoos