Cuckoo flies south - by plane

A cuckoo nursed back to health after it was found dying in a London garden has flown to Italy - by plane.

The bird was transported by British Airways 737 to Turin to catch up other cuckoos on their long winter migration to Africa.

She was found in Tolworth with a wounded wing, injured head and infested with parasites, reports the BBC.

Wildlife Aid Foundation veterinary nurse Lucy Kells travelled with the bird which staff named Idemili.

"Poor little Idemili was in a very bad way when she came to us. She had been attacked by other birds and had sustained wounds to one of her wings," she said.

"She also had a badly pecked head, was infested with parasites and one of her eyes had closed due to a mixture of her dehydrated state, bruising from the other bird attack and underlying infection."

WAF director Simon Cowell said she had been found two weeks ago and was the only female cuckoo ever fitted with a satellite tag by the British Trust for Ornithology.

"All other tagged cuckoos are male. It was due to the tagging that WAF knew Idemili was the last cuckoo to leave England, as all the other tagged cuckoos had already migrated to warmer climes and were being tracked by satellite," he said.

Half of the UK's breeding cuckoos have been lost in the past 25 years, making them one of the country's fastest declining migrant birds.