Coccyzus americanus

Description

A slim bird, with a brown back and plain white breast. It has a reddish tent in the wings and has large white spots at the tips of its black tail feathers. The yellow-billed cuckoo has a narrow yellow eye-ring and the lower bill of its beak is yellow.

Voice

Their call is a rapid, throaty call of ka-ka-ka-ka-ka-ka-ka-ka-ka-ka-ka-ka-kow-kow-kowlp-kowlp-kowlp-kowlp (with the call slowing towards the end).

Habitat

They can be found in woodlands, thickets, and orchards.

Diet

They eat large insects, caterpillars, some fruit, and seeds.

Range

They can be found from New Hampshire and Vermont down to southern Vermont, and westward towards the Dakotas down to Texas, with some isolated populations in Utah and Idaho.

Other Useful Information

The yellow-billed cuckoo and black-billed cuckoo have something in common. Both species’ young mature at a very fast rate. From egg laying to fledglings leaving the nest is approximately 17 days. Around day 6 or 7, the young grow their feathers. The feathers burst out of their sheaths, and within two hours, the young are completely feathered.

Similar Species

Black-billed cuckoo and mangrove cuckoo.