Tag: Mongolia Cuckoo Project

In celebration of Onon, a remarkable cuckoo

On 8 June 2019 “Team Cuckoo” caught and fitted a tag to the fifth and final cuckoo during an expedition to Khurkh in northeast Mongolia as part of the Mongolian Cuckoo Project. 

On 1 October 2020 we received what were most likely the last transmissions from his tag, from southern Yemen. 

Tuvshi, from the Mongolian Wildlife Science and Conservation Center, releasing the fifth cuckoo, soon to be named “Онон” (Onon), on 8 June 2019 at Khurkh.

This cuckoo, named “Онон” (Onon) by local schoolchildren after the local river, had just crossed the Arabian Sea from India.  To refuel after his marathon, almost certainly non-stop, flight of more than 3,500km in 64 hours, he had chosen an area that had recently experienced rain, good conditions for the emergence of caterpillars, seemingly ideal for a migrating cuckoo.  Yet just a few days after having arrived, the transmissions from his tag reduced in frequency and both the battery charge and temperature of the tag dropped rapidly, sounding alarm bells.  We waited for several days, desperately hoping for more signals, but sadly, as of today – 15th October 2020 – no further signals have been forthcoming and we must assume that Onon died in southern Yemen sometime between 27 September and 1 October.

Onon’s final resting place appears to be c100km WNW of Aden in southern Yemen.

Onon was a remarkable cuckoo.  After being fitted with his tag, he travelled almost 40,000km in 16 months, making 33 border crossings involving 17 countries, including three crossings of the Arabian Sea.  

Onon’s migration from June 2019 to October 2020 (outward tracks from Mongolia to Africa in darker green and the return from Africa to Mongolia in light green).

More than that, he touched millions of people in countries along his route and beyond, many of whom learned about these birds’ inter-continental migrations for the first time.  After his record-breaking journey in spring 2020 of >7,200km in seven days from Somalia to India, he attracted considerable mainstream media attention, with articles in The Guardian and The Times of India, as well as being featured on BBC Breakfast TV and on BBC Radio 4.

The Times of India  

The Guardian

BBC Breakfast TV

Onon achieved something of a cult status in India after social media influencer Parveen Kaswan (@ParveenKaswan), with almost a quarter of a million followers on Twitter, celebrated Onon’s crossing of the Arabian Sea.  For several days, we held an online “Q&A session” with new followers asking great questions about how these birds make these crossings, what they eat, how they sleep and what people can do to help them.  One follower, Rajesh Ghotikar, even visited Onon’s position to report on the condition of the habitat near Ratlam in Madhya Pradesh.

Rajesh Ghotikar checking out ONON’s location near Ratlam, Madhya Pradesh.

Reaching more people, especially outside conservation and birding circles, was one of the aims of the Mongolian Cuckoo Project and, thanks to Onon, I think we can say this aim has been achieved.  If just one person who was touched by Onon’s incredible migration goes on to a position of influence and supports the conservation of migratory birds and the habitats they need, Onon’s life will have been incredibly meaningful.

Of course, Onon is just one of many thousands of Common Cuckoos making similar journeys at the same time every year and, although we now mourn the loss of a special bird we had the privilege of following for 16 months, his legacy is that we now know more about the incredible journeys made by these birds and the places they need along the way.  With this knowledge, all of us who have been enthralled and inspired by Onon should use every opportunity to champion the protection of migratory birds and the habitats they need.  

Next year in spring, on hearing their first cuckoo of the year, I am sure there will be many many thousands of people who will recall the life of Onon, a remarkable cuckoo indeed.

Birding Beijing, October 2020

Onon’s journey at a glance (33 border crossings involving 17 countries)

Mongolia – China – Myanmar – India – Bhutan –  Nepal – India – Pakistan – Oman – Saudi Arabia – Eritrea – Ethiopia – Kenya – Tanzania – Malawi – Zambia – Malawi – Tanzania – Kenya – Somalia – India – Bangladesh – India – Myanmar – China – Mongolia – China – Myanmar – India – Bangladesh – India – Pakistan – India – Yemen.

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Birding Beijing would like to thank the partners of the Mongolian Cuckoo Project – the Wildlife Science and Conservation Center (especially Nyambayar Batbayar, Batmunkh Davaasuren and Tuvshinjargal Erdenechimeg) and the British Trust for Ornithology (especially Chris Hewson) –  the supporters who made it possible (especially the Oriental Bird Club, Dick Newell and Lyndon Kearsley – who, as well as helping with the tagging, also heroically updated the Google Map with all the latest movements), the local schools at Khurkh and Binder, to Richard Porter for facilitating the contact with schools on Socotra, and to everyone who has followed and/or supported the project in any way.   Thank you.

Update: reactions in the media:

ONON was featured on BBC Radio 4’s 6 o’clock news on 15 October 2020.

Social media:

 

The Mongolia Cuckoo Project

Followers of Birding Beijing’s Twitter feed (@BirdingBeijing) will know that Team Cuckoo (Chris Hewson of BTO, Dick Newell, Lyndon Kearsley and Terry Townshend) has been in Mongolia, partnering with the Wildlife Science and Conservation Center (WSCC) to begin a new cuckoo tracking project.

The Mongolia Cuckoo Project is a partnership between the WSCC and the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO), facilitated by Birding Beijing and supported by the Oriental Bird Club.

The project builds on the success of the Beijing Cuckoo Project and aims to discover more about the wintering grounds and migration routes of cuckoos in East Asia, as well as engaging the public through naming and following the birds.

From 5-8 June, the team was based at Khurkh Bird Banding Station in northern Mongolia, an 8-hour drive from the capital Ulan Bator. Here, Tuvshinjargal Erdenechimeg, the manager of the ringing station, works with volunteers to ring migratory birds each spring and autumn. The site is stunning – a lush valley with a tributary of the river Onon at its heart, nestled between hills of rolling grassland just south of the Russian border.

The Khurkh Bird Ringing Station seen from adjacent hills
The ger at Khurkh Bird Ringing Station alongside our trusty “go anywhere” Russian vehicle.
Young volunteers from Sweden and Singapore were manning the ringing station during our visit.

On arrival, we were told by the ringers that they had just caught a probable ORIENTAL CUCKOO in the nets. Without hearing it sing, this species is tricky to separate from COMMON CUCKOO. However, using criteria relating to the number of pale spots on the underside of the primaries and the colour and markings on the innermost underwing coverts, it can be done. Sure enough, the bird the ringers had caught was an ORIENTAL CUCKOO and, being unaware of any of this species being tracked before, we fitted a transmitter to this individual and released it.

The BTO’s cuckoo expert, Chris Hewson, with the ORIENTAL CUCKOO immediately before release

There are records of ORIENTAL CUCKOO from SE Asia and Australia in the northern winter and, intriguingly, according to HBW there is a record of a specimen from Zambia…! Assuming it stays healthy, it’ll be fascinating to see the movements of this bird.

The same day, after heavy rain for several hours in the afternoon, we caught and tagged a male COMMON CUCKOO in the early evening, just a couple of hundred metres from the camp.

On our second full day, the weather was cold, windy and wet for several hours but as soon as the rain stopped, we were out to set up the nets further along the valley.. and within five minutes had caught an incredible five cuckoos!

Setting up the nets

One was a beautiful female ‘hepatic’ (rufous morph) bird, unfortunately too small to carry a tag (there are strict guidelines about the relative weight of the tag and the bird’s body weight to ensure the tag effect is as small as possible), as well as another small ORIENTAL CUCKOO. The other three were good-sized male COMMON CUCKOOS; we fitted tags to two of them and released the third bird after fitting a metal ring (the tagging process can take 30-40 minutes, so we didn’t want the third bird to be waiting around for too long).

This hepatic female was released after being fitted with a metal ring.

After processing these birds, we set off to the local town of Binder to participate in a crane festival. Here we met up with George Archibald, founder of the International Crane Foundation, and joined in the celebration. The art exhibition produced by the local children was magical. Despite encouragement, we couldn’t persuade BTO’s Chris Hewson to represent Team Cuckoo in the Mongolian wrestling competition…!

The visit to the town provided us with an opportunity to visit the local school to speak with the students about the cuckoo project and to invite them to name two of the birds. The students, who have recently set up an “Eco Club”, were impressively knowledgeable about their local birds and were excited to be part of the project.. They quickly put forward several names and, after a vote, decided on two – “нүүдэлчин” (English translation: Nomad) and “Онон” (English translation: Onon), after the local river that runs through the town. The students are looking forward to following “their” birds over the next few weeks, months and hopefully years.

Students put forward ten names
Putting the suggested names to the vote
The two most popular names

Day three saw us travel around 30 minutes from the camp to a small copse on a hillside and no sooner had we arrived than we heard two male COMMON CUCKOOS singing. After setting up the nets, again we quickly caught one of the males. Cuckoo number five was ‘in the bag’ after only two and half days in the field.

Tuvshinjargal Erdenechimeg releasing the fifth cuckoo to be fitted with a tag at Khurkh

And so, it is with much excitement and expectation that we can introduce the five Mongolian Cuckoos we’ll be tracking..

  • Cuckoo 1 – male Oriental Cuckoo (to be named)
  • Cuckoo 2 – male Common Cuckoo “нүүдэлчин” (Nomad)
  • Cuckoo 3 – male Common Cuckoo “Онон” (Onon)
  • Cuckoo 4 – male Common Cuckoo (to be named)
  • Cuckoo 5 – male Common Cuckoo (to be named)

Names will be given to the currently un-named three cuckoos over the next few weeks.

As with the Beijing Cuckoo Project, we’ve created a special web page which will be updated regularly with the cuckoo’s movements. Already, there’s been a big move by one of the five! Check out the page to find out details. You can also follow their progress via Twitter (@BirdingBeijing).

“Team Cuckoo” would like to express huge thanks to the Mongolian team, especially Nyambayar Batbayar, Batmunkh Davaasuren and Tuvshinjargal Erdenechimeg, to the British Trust for Ornithology and to the Oriental Bird Club and Mr Dick Newell for making the project possible.

We can be sure that these avian travellers will surprise, impress, enthral and, most of all, inspire us. We can’t wait to learn more about these incredible birds.