Yellow-billed Cuckoo

Coccyzus americanus
Cuckoo family (Cuculidae)

Habitat:
Open woods, thickets, riparian forest.

Description:
Long slender body, 11” long.  Long tail with white ovals on underside.  Reddish brown back.  Moderately long curved bill,
black above, yellow below.

Nesting:
Nest is a loose platform of dry twigs, placed in thick shrubs, usually 4 to 8 feet above the ground.  Begins nesting in June.  May be double-brooded with a second clutch beginning in August.  Eggs are pale bluish green.  Clutch size – 2 to 3 eggs.  Susceptible to intraspecific brood parasitism (cuckoos lay eggs in each other’s nests), recognized by unusually large clutches. 

Voice:
Variable pitch and speed of notes, but notes are low-pitched, always sound like “cu cu cu”.  Some notes may sound hollow and wooden.

Name Origin:
Coccyzus, kokkux, Greek for “cuckoo”

In the Nature Park:
Neotropical migrant, arrives later than other migrants.  Remains well hidden in dense vegetation.  More easily heard than seen.