Black-billed Cuckoo

Coccyzus erythropthalmusOrder: CUCULIFORMESFamily: Cuckoos and Roadrunners (Cuculidae)

Breeding Location:

Forests, coniferous, Bushes, shrubs, and thickets

Breeding Type:

Monogamous

Breeding Population:

Uncommon to fairly common

Egg Color:

Blue green with dark markings

Number of Eggs:

2 - 5

Incubation Days:

10 - 14

Egg Incubator:

Both sexes

Nest Material:

Dried twigs lined with fresh grass, leaves, pine needles, catkins, and vegetation.

Migration:

Migratory

Overview

Black-billed Cuckoo: Medium cuckoo with brown upperparts, white underparts. Eye-ring is red and decurved bill is black. Tail is long with faint white, dark-eyed spots underneath. Feeds primarily on caterpillars, also eats insects, small fish, mollusks and fruits. Makes low flights of short duration.

Range and Habitat

Black-billed Cuckoo: Breeds from Alberta and Montana east to Maritime Provinces, and south to northern Texas, Arkansas, and South Carolina. Spends winters in South America. Preferred habitats include moist thickets in low overgrown pastures and orchards; also occurs in thicker undergrowth and sparse woodlands.

Breeding and Nesting

Black-billed Cuckoo: Two to five darkly marked, blue-green eggs are laid in a flimsy, shallow nest made of twigs, lined with grass and plant down, and built within a few feet of the ground in a dense thicket. Incubation ranges from 10 to 14 days and is carried out by both parents.

Foraging and Feeding

Black-billed Cuckoo: Feeds primarily on insects, particularly caterpillars.

Readily Eats

Suet

Vocalization

Black-billed Cuckoo: Emits a series of soft mellow "cu-cu-cu-cu" notes in groups of 2 to 5, all on the same pitch.

Similar Species

Black-billed Cuckoo: Adult Yellow-billed Cuckoo has yellow-based bill and cinnamon-brown primaries in all plumages, and larger white, "eyeless” tail spots below. Juvenile Yellow-billed Cuckoo can be black-billed but has pale white, "eyeless” tail spots below tail. Mangrove Cuckoo has yellow-based bill, black mask, buff breast, and larger, "eyeless” white tail spots below.

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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.

Black-billed Cuckoo

● Song: "cu-cu-cu or cu-cu-cu-cu"

● Foraging & Feeding: Black-billed Cuckoo: Feeds primarily on insects, particularly caterpillars.

● Breeding & nesting: Black-billed Cuckoo: Two to five darkly marked, blue-green eggs are laid in a flimsy, shallow nest made of twigs, lined with grass and plant down, and built within a few feet of the ground in a dense thicket. Incubation ranges from 10 to 14 days and is carried out by both parents.

● Similar species: Black-billed Cuckoo: Adult Yellow-billed Cuckoo has yellow-based bill and cinnamon-brown primaries in all plumages, and larger white, "eyeless” tail spots below. Juvenile Yellow-billed Cuckoo can be black-billed but has pale white, "eyeless” tail spots below tail. Mangrove Cuckoo has yellow-based bill, black mask, buff breast, and larger, "eyeless” white tail spots below.

Flight Pattern

Often flies low and makes short flights from tree to another.

● Range & Habitat: Black-billed Cuckoo: Breeds from Alberta and Montana east to Maritime Provinces, and south to northern Texas, Arkansas, and South Carolina. Spends winters in South America. Preferred habitats include moist thickets in low overgrown pastures and orchards; also occurs in thicker undergrowth and sparse woodlands.

^BreedingMonogamous

^PopulationUncommon to fairly common

^MigrationMigratory

^Weight3.6 Ounces

Field Guide to Birds of North America