A cuckoo sits on a perch in the rain on Thursley Common, England. The UK has seen a 71% decline in the breeding population of cuckoos over the last 25 years. The decline is thought to be linked to the migration routes to wintering grounds in the Congo Basin in West Africa. The environmental conditions at stop over sites are thought to be the main thing that determine the birds’ migration success with drought and wildfires on the shorter routes having a negative effect, according to scientists.

Photograph: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images