Yellow-billed Cuckoo

Coccyzus americanusOrder: CUCULIFORMES Family: Cuckoos and Roadrunners (Cuculidae)

Codes: Common Name: YBCU Scientific Name: COCAME ITIS Taxonomic No.: 177831

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Overview

Yellow-billed Cuckoo: Medium cuckoo, gray-brown upperparts and white underparts. Bill is mostly yellow. Wings are gray-brown with rufous primaries. Tail is long and has white-spotted black edges. Gray legs, feet. Feeds primarily on hairy caterpillars, also insects, larvae, small fruits, and berries.

Range and Habitat

Yellow-billed Cuckoo: Breeds from central California, Minnesota, and southern New Brunswick southward. Spends winters in South America. Preferred habitats include moist thickets, willows, overgrown pastures, and orchards.

Topo Map: Perching-like Body

Listen to Call

Voice Text

"ka-ka-ka-ka-kow-kow-kow-kow" , "kowp-kowp-kowp"

Interesting Facts

Although the Yellow-billed Cuckoo usually raises its own young, occasionally it will lay its egg in the nest of another cuckoo, or even that of a different species.

On day six or seven after hatching, the feathers of the young emerge from their sheaths, allowing the nestling to become fully feathered in two hours.

A group of cuckoos are collectively known as a "cooch" and an "asylum" of cuckoos.

Bird Term Glossary

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Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.

Yellow-billed Cuckoo

● Song: "ka-ka-ka-ka-kow-kow-kow-kow" , "kowp-kowp-kowp"

● Foraging & Feeding: Yellow-billed Cuckoo: Mainly feeds on hairy caterpillars and cicadas; also eats other insects, bird eggs, snails, small vertebrates such as frogs and lizards, berries, and some fruits; forages in trees.

● Breeding & nesting: Yellow-billed Cuckoo: One to five light blue green to yellow green eggs are laid in a flimsy saucer of twigs built in a bush or small sapling. Incubation ranges from 9 to 11 days and is carried out by both parents.

● Similar species: Yellow-billed Cuckoo: Black-billed Cuckoo has red eye-ring, black bill, smaller tail spots, and lacks cinnamon-brown primaries. Mangrove Cuckoo has black mask, buff breast, larger white tail spots, and lacks cinnamon-brown primaries.

Flight Pattern

Direct flight with steady quick wing beats.

● Range & Habitat: Yellow-billed Cuckoo: Breeds from central California, Minnesota, and southern New Brunswick southward. Spends winters in South America. Preferred habitats include moist thickets, willows, overgrown pastures, and orchards.

^BreedingMonogamous, Solitary nester

^PopulationUncommon to common

^MigrationMigratory

^Weight3.6 Ounces

Perching-like Body

Underparts

Belly, undertail coverts, chest, flanks, and foreneck.

Upperparts

Back, rump, hindneck, wings, and crown.

Primaries

The primaries are the flight feathers specialized for flight. They are attached to the "hand" equivalent part of the wing.

4 and 6 letter alpha codes

The four letter common name alpha code is is derived from the first two letters of the common first name and the first two letters of common last name. The six letter species name alpha code is derived from the first three letters of the scientific name (genus) and the first three letters of the scientific name (species). See (1) below for the rules used to create the codes..

Four-letter (for English common names) and six-letter (for scientific names) species alpha codes were developed by Pyle and DeSante (2003, North American Bird-Bander 28:64-79) to reflect A.O.U. taxonomy and nomenclature (A.O.U. 1998) as modified by Supplements 42 (Auk 117:847-858, 2000) and 43 (Auk 119:897-906, 2002). The list has been updated by Pyle and DeSante to reflect changes reported by the A.O.U from 2003 through 2006.

Field Guide to Birds of North America