Cuckoo in February? (1 Viewer)

[Mike in Cumbria]

On a Cumbrian facebook page, someone claims to have heard a cuckoo in Cumbria this week. It seems highly unlikely, especially as all the tagged birds are still in West Africa. Other people are jumping on the thread claiming to have heard one too.
They have almost certainly mis-heard a collared dove, but it's difficult proving a negative.
Surely it's an impossibility in mid February, no?

 

[Bismarck Honeyeater]

Yes.

 

[trw]

' They have almost certainly mis-heard a collared dove'............. or a Woodpigeon. Some of them have been vocal recently in Cumbria. A woodpigeon was very vocal in our garden this morning in South Cumbria.

 

[Paul Chapman]

On a Cumbrian facebook page, someone claims to have heard a cuckoo in Cumbria this week. It seems highly unlikely, especially as all the tagged birds are still in West Africa. Other people are jumping on the thread claiming to have heard one too.
They have almost certainly mis-heard a collared dove, but it's difficult proving a negative.
Surely it's an impossibility in mid February, no?

Impossible - no... But a February Common Cuckoo should really require some form of recording or photo. More reports than proof of such records even in continental Europe - a rare pic of a February bird in Portugal at the link. A couple of reports in Spain this year without photos or recordings.

https://ebird.org/checklist/S53061002

Misidentified - almost certainly.

Other triggered reports misidentified - certainly.

All the best

Paul

 

[Phil Andrews]

On a Cumbrian facebook page, someone claims to have heard a cuckoo in Cumbria this week. It seems highly unlikely, especially as all the tagged birds are still in West Africa. Other people are jumping on the thread claiming to have heard one too.
They have almost certainly mis-heard a collared dove, but it's difficult proving a negative.
Surely it's an impossibility in mid February, no?

In a word, yes. Hopefully satellite tagging technology will confirm birds are still south of the Med (and presumably the Sahara) this time of year.

 

[Phil Andrews]

In a word, yes. Hopefully satellite tagging technology will confirm birds are still south of the Med (and presumably the Sahara) this time of year.

Here are the current positions of the surviving sat-tagged BTO birds

 

[Phil Andrews]

Likewise the positions of three birds from an Irish sat-tag programme

 

[Mike in Cumbria]

Thanks everyone. I'll have to stop trying to convince them that they're mistaken though - it gets pointless after a while.

 

[Phil Andrews]

Thanks everyone. I'll have to stop trying to convince them that they're mistaken though - it gets pointless after a while.

Share the above images with the group to show where Cuckoos actually are

 

[Mysticete]

What's has been the weather like over on your side of the pond?

Locally, the ebird alerts seem to be flagging a lot of early arrivals. We have had the warmest winter on record, to the point that it has impacted some of the local winter events like sturgeon fishing. It's just...been a really weird time...I am curious if it has been just as weird over in the Europe, which might explain some birds showing up earlier than expected.

 

[Andrew Whitehouse]

What's has been the weather like over on your side of the pond?

Locally, the ebird alerts seem to be flagging a lot of early arrivals. We have had the warmest winter on record, to the point that it has impacted some of the local winter events like sturgeon fishing. It's just...been a really weird time...I am curious if it has been just as weird over in the Europe, which might explain some birds showing up earlier than expected.

Although there have been a few cold snaps, it's been predominantly very mild in Britain and I suspect over much of Europe. There are very good explanations for early Cuckoos, however, so I think it's vastly more likely to be Collared Dove. Cuckoos generally arrive around mid-April, so this would be close to two months early.

 

[Farnboro John]

Thanks everyone. I'll have to stop trying to convince them that they're mistaken though - it gets pointless after a while.

In all the world only ignorance is invincible.

John