We are thrilled to announce that at least two of the Western Yellow-billed Cuckoos that we tagged over the past three summers in the Kern River Valley (KRV) have returned. One of these birds, affectionately nicknamed Stroopwafle, was tagged in summer 2022. In 2023, it was detected by a Motus station at Mad Island Marsh, north of Corpus Christi, Texas on its northbound migration on June 15, 2023. It seemed to stay in the KRV for the summer during 2023, with the last tag detection being in August 2023. During this time we were able to track the bird’s movements using a network of tag detectors called nodes that can be used to estimate tag locations. Its tag has now stopped transmitting or has fallen off, but it has been identified using leg color bands.
June 2023 Stroopwafle position estimates based on node network detections.
Another tagged cuckoo, nicknamed Sphinx, that was tagged in 2023 has also been detected. Its Motus tag has stopped working but we can identify it by its colored leg bands.
A map of Stroopwafel’s 2023 migration detections: Motus Wildlife Tracking System
Not sure what Motus is? Curious to learn more? Check out our page explaining it and SSRS’s involvement here: Motus Tracking | Southern Sierra Research Station
See a 2024 post on last years cuckoo detections here: Our Yellow-billed Cuckoos are on their way back to the breeding grounds!
Our cuckoo work in the Kern River Valley, CA is currently unfunded, if you want to help support our work, we would greatly appreciate donations of any amount! We’re hoping to raise funds for 3 cuckoo tags for 2026.
