Coccyzus americanus
The Yellow-billed Cuckoo (Coccyzus americanus) is a slender, medium-sized avian marvel, often referred to as the 'Rain Crow' due to its distinctive, rhythmic call frequently heard before summer storms. Measuring 28-34 cm (11-13 inches) in length with a wingspan of 40-46 cm (16-18 inches) and weighing 55-65 grams, its elegant profile is characterized by a long, graduated tail and a prominently decurved bill. Key identification marks include a bright yellow lower mandible, large white spots on ...
This cuckoo primarily inhabits open deciduous or mixed woodlands, dense thickets, and riparian areas, favoring successional growth and forest edges. It prefers low to mid-elevation environments, especially along streams, rivers, and lakes.
Their diet consists predominantly of large insects, especially hairy caterpillars (including tent caterpillars and gypsy moths), cicadas, grasshoppers, and beetles. They also consume lizards, small frogs, and occasionally wild berries.
Yellow-billed Cuckoos are largely diurnal, though incredibly secretive, often remaining hidden within dense foliage, their presence frequently betrayed only by their distinctive calls. They are agile foragers, gleaning large insects from leaves and branches, often making short flights to pursue p...
The Yellow-billed Cuckoo boasts a vast breeding range across eastern and central North America, extending from southeastern Canada south through the eastern and central United States, and into northern Mexico. A distinct, genetically isolated western population (*C. a. occidentalis*), often consi...
Least Concern
- Known as the 'Rain Crow,' its distinctive call is often associated with impending summer storms. - They are one of the few birds that can stomach hairy caterpillars, even digesting the hairs, which they later regurgitate as pellets. - Yellow-billed Cuckoo nestlings are among the fastest-growing...