Breeding ground correlates the decline of the Common Cuckoo

Juvenile Cuckoo by Harry Appleyard

Many migratory bird species are undergoing population declines as a result of potentially multiple, interacting mechanisms. Understanding the environmental associations of spatial variation in population change can help tease out the likely mechanisms involved. Common Cuckoo Cuculus canorus populations have declined by 69% in England but increased by 33% in Scotland. The declines have mainly occurred in lowland agricultural landscapes, but their mechanisms are unknown…