The Cuckoo has landed in Ireland
The first reported sighting of a Cuckoo in Ireland in 2025 was made in County Waterford on Wednesday afternoon.
Birdwatcher Vera Roche reported her sighting of the distinctive bird in song on bogland at Ballygunner Mór (Ballygunnermore), located to the southeast of Waterford City, to irishbirding.com.
The last sighting of a Cuckoo (Cuculus canorus) in Ireland was recorded on 31 August 2024 at Cahore in County Wexford.
The arrival of one of the most recognisable and well-known of all Irish bird species comes a week earlier than the first sighting in 2024 when the bird was spotted in Bodyke, County Clare, on 8 April.
The Cuckoo’s arrival ahead of schedule is likely the result of the ongoing favourable weather conditions.
A southeasterly wind on Sunday and Monday would have aided migratory bird’s journey from central and southern Africa where it winters each year.
The Cuckoo is a summer visitor to Ireland from April to August.
According to Birdwatch Ireland, the Cuckoo is widespread in Ireland, favouring open areas which hold their main Irish host species – Meadow Pipit.
The Cuckoo has a remarkable breeding biology unlike any other Irish breeding species.
In 2024, a cuckoo tagged as part of a National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) initiative returned to the Killarney National Park in County Kerry following a journey that that took him as far as the rainforests in the Congo basin.
Cuach KP, the first of the three to complete the journey, has traveled 9,000 kilometres.
Dry, settled and warm conditions will persist until mid-April across Ireland.
High pressure will be the dominant feature of our weather for the next 10 to 14 days, extending an exceptionally dry period that began in early March.
