First Cuckoo
The 14th April is St. Tiburtius Day and is traditionally when you will hear the first cuckoo, as celebrated in Rudyard Kipling’s Cuckoo Song:
Warrant, Act and Summons, please,
For Spring to pass along here!
The cuckoo migrates north from Africa and the date of its arrival, although traditionally the 14th April, varies in different parts of the country.
The first sighting is often in the far South West, in the Isle of Scilly and then gradually moves northwards. In recent years the cuckoo has tended to arrive on average five days earlier than usual, likely due to climate change.
On hearing the first cuckoo in spring it is traditional to pen a letter to The Times, but you can also send your reports to us – we’d love to hear from you. Just let us know when and where you heard it.
Every year we get lots of people telling us they’ve heard cuckoos well before April. Even if the weather is mild cuckoos are very unlikely to have returned from Africa that early. So it’s probably a case of mistaken identity. If you think you’ve heard a cuckoo very early on check it’s not a collared dove.
We also receive a few pictures of’ ‘cuckoos’ each year. These are usually photos of fieldfares but people have occasionally mistaken sparrowhawks for cuckoos too.
Have you heard a cuckoo?
First Cuckoo Dunbar 2020
Kate Crawford heard a cuckoo today just outside Dunbar, East Lothian.
She said, “Was walking in the glen behind our house near Spott, with my son and we heard it. Sadly could not see it. But my 3yr son knew what it was as we have a cuckoo clock. 🙂 Will definitely be keeping eyes and ears open.”
First Cuckoo Darwen Moor 2020
Bill Tomlinson heard a cuckoo in a small copse on the lower western slope of Darwen Moor, Lancashire.
He said, ” Listened and watched a cuckoo in a small wooded valley on the way down from Darwen Moor to my home in the village of Tockholes.
“He was perched high on a branch at the top of a tree.”
First Cuckoo Didcot 2020
Pauline Upstone heard a cuckoo on the 19th April while walking by a backwater of the Thames between Long Wittenham and Appleford villages near Didcot.
She said, ” I wasn’t particularly listening out, but walking on my own near my home due to social distancing.
“The path by the river isn’t used much because the nettles come up, but they weren’t yet very high and it was such a lovely day to walk by this backwater.
It was about 10.30 am and I heard it only twice and didn’t see the bird, but I feel sure it was a cuckoo, as there are collared doves often in my garden, and the cuckoo sounds distinctive.”
First Cuckoo Greengairs 2020
Willie Bennie heard a cuckoo on moorland just south of the village of Greengairs and north of the town of Airdrie in North Lanarkshire, Scotland.
He said, ” I was walking in an area known as Drumshangie Moss when I heard what I believe to be a male cuckoo. Unfortunately it was in the distance so I never actually got to see it.”
First Cuckoo Cangate 2020
Nigel Pickering heard a cuckoo today at Cangate, near Neatishead, Norfolk.
He said, “Heard a cuckoo at 8.20 this morning. We have plenty of wood pigeons and collared doves in our garden so know what they sound like. This was definitely a cuckoo calling. The first one we have heard here in 2 years”
First Cuckoo Wickford 2020
Sarah Link heard a cuckoo yesterday in Essex.
She said, “My garden is next to the trees alongside the Wickford to Southminster train line. I am used to various birds (wood pigeon, robins, blackbirds, magpies, crows).
“Yesterday Wed 2nd April 2020 at 10.00am I heard a cuckoo.
“Haven’t heard one in years and was quite excited at the sound, so used to the doves and pigeons but this was definately a cuckoo.”
First Cuckoo Pershore 2020
Linda Hamlin heard a cuckoo today while working in her garden in Pershore, Worcestershire.
She said, “I was so surprised I stopped work to see if I could pinpoint where the cuckoo was. It appeared to be very close. We have a wetland area about half a mile from us and I assume the cuckoos return to use the nests of the reed buntings which nest there.”
First Cuckoo Blackbird Leys 2020
Russell Price heard a cuckoo today at Blackbird Leys, Oxfordshire.
He said, “I was at the allotment very early to adjust window closing devices on a greenhouse and was taking advantage of the deep frost. I heard the song coming from woods the other side of the Mini car plant”
First Cuckoo Woolley Moor 2020
Anne Matanle emailed us to say she saw a cuckoo yesterday in Woolley Moor, Derbyshire.
She said, “I didn’t actually hear a cuckoo, but a male came and perched on my neighbour’s cherry tree.
“I was siting in my window with my binoculars as many birds are accustomed to landing on my neighbour’s trees as she has been feeding the birds for years.
“I was waiting to see how many greenfinches or chaffinches have recovered and it just landed within my sights!
“It didn’t stay long and I don’t yet know if my neighbour also saw it.”
First Cuckoo Sutton 2020
Pat Bains emailed to tell us she heard a cuckoo today in Sutton, Suffolk.
She said she heard it from the kitchen and ran outside to see it flying over the garden. Her husband saw it too.
They’ve been birding 50 years and this is the earliest for them – she thinks the earliest recorded is the 14th March in Sutton.
First Cuckoo Beaumont Chase 2020
Edwin Timewell wrote to tell us he and his friend heard and saw a cuckoo on the 5th March near Beaumont Chase, Leicestershire.
He said, “I did not hear the cuckoo but my friend Lee Overton and I saw the cuckoo flying very low skimming over a hedgerow at speed and swerved low over the road between us an oncoming car.
“It maintained its height and skimmed over the hedgerow on the opposite side of the road. Both Lee and I are experienced bird watchers who have seen cuckoos before and had a close up view of the bird.
“We are in no doubt that it was a cuckoo and clearly saw the grey barring of its chest plumage .The weather was cold, windy, and rainy and there had recently been storms from the South West.
“Given its purposeful and low flight, we may postulate that it had been driven down by gales and rain from higher altitude and it was now flying low over the ground for lift and that it was headed North through central England.
“Being so early in the year, maybe this was headed to Scotland on migration?
“Amazing to see so early in the year and a welcome harbinger of spring!”
First Cuckoo Wolverhampton 2020
Marion Burns heard a cuckoo today in Wolverhampton.
She said, “I heard the cuckoo call at 7.40 am from my home. I opened the window to check I was not mistaken and heard it again.
“I have just read on your website that I could be mistaken by the similar call of the collared dove however I have just watched a video on identifying cuckoo sounds versus collared doves, and, mad as it sounds, I still think what I heard was a cuckoo!”
First Cuckoo Andover 2020
Jo Harris wrote to tell us she was visiting her sister in a village outside Andover and woke up to hear a cuckoo in the woods.
She said, “I know this is very unusual but definitely know the difference between a wood pigeon and cuckoo.”
It is too early for cuckoos to have returned from Africa so what Jo heard was probably a collared dove which often get mistaken for cuckoos at this time of year.
First Cuckoo Ewerby 2020
Vicki Hooton emailed to say she heard a cuckoo today in Ewerby, Lincolnshire.
She said, “I can’t believe I’m hearing a cuckoo in my garden at the beginning of February?!! I had to stand listening to make sure I was hearing correctly.’
It is far too early for cuckoos to have arrived back to the UK to breed so unfortunately Vicki must have been mistaken.
First Cuckoo Vowchurch 2020
Ivor Scott emailed us to let us know he heard a cuckoo in Hampshire on the 30th January.
He wrote. “On Thursday morning I was working with 2 staff from the Countryside Restoration Trust at their property, Turnastone Court Farm, Vowchurch, Herefordshire. I heard a bird calling and at first dismissed it as it was far too early for a cuckoo.
“However, the other two confirmed it was a cuckoo. We heard it call on two occasions during the morning. Unmistakably a cuckoo.
“Is this something we should report? It seems significant as very early in the year.”
It is very unlikely that what Ivor heard was a cuckoo as they have not yet returned from their wintering grounds of Africa.
We get some reports of people hearing cuckoos at this time of year which are most probably the calls of collared doves.