Quantcast

Black-billed Cuckoo

Coccyzus erythropthalmusOrder: CUCULIFORMESFamily: Cuckoos and Roadrunners (Cuculidae)
Black-billed Cuckoo Head Illustration

Head

  • Bill Shape: Curved (up or down)
  • Eye Color: Dark brown.
  • Head Pattern: Plain, Eyering (complete or broken)
  • Crown Color: Brown
  • Forehead Color: Brown
  • Nape Color: Brown
  • Throat Color: White
  • Cere color: No Data
Black-billed Cuckoo Body Illustration

Body

  • Length Range: 28-30 cm (11-12 in)
  • Weight: 102 g (3.6 oz)
  • Size: Size 3. Medium (9 - 16 in)
  • Color: White, Brown, Gray
  • Underparts: White
  • Upperparts: Brown
  • Back Pattern: Solid
  • Belly Pattern: Solid
  • Breast Pattern: Solid
Black-billed Cuckoo Flight Illustration

Flight

  • Flight Pattern: Often flies low and makes short flights from tree to another.
  • Wingspan Range: 38-43 cm (15-17 in)
  • Wing Shape: Pointed-Wings, Long-Wings
  • Tail Shape: Rounded Tail
  • Tail Pattern: Solid
  • Upper Tail: Black with central brown feathers.
  • Under Tail: Black with white markings.
  • Leg Color: Gray
.
Bird database and its related content, illustrations and media is Copyright © 2002 - 2007  Whatbird.com
All rights reserved. No part of this web site may be reproduced without written permission from Mitch Waite Group.
 Privacy Policy.
Percevia® Registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
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.
Family Roadrunners and Cuckoos (Cuculidae)_blue
Species Coccyzus erythropthalmus
Length11 - 12 Inches
Wingspan16 Inches

Black-billed Cuckoo

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.

● 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.
Black-billed Cuckoo Body Illustration
● 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