Black-billed Cuckoo

Black-billed Cuckoo adult

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1. Description
2. Sound
3. Conservation Status
4. Other Names
5. Cool Facts
6. Full detailed species account

Common but secretive, the Black-billed Cuckoo is heard far more often than seen. During the breeding season, this forest dwelling caterpillar-eater often calls throughout the night.

Description

• Slender, long-tailed bird colored in soft browns and grays.
• Bill all black.

• Size: 28-31 cm (11-12 in)
• Wingspan: 34-40 cm (13-16 in)
• Weight: 40-65 g (1.41-2.29 ounces)

Sex Differences

Sexes similar in plumage, but females average slightly larger.

Sound

A fast rhythmic series of from two to five notes on the same pitch, with a brief pause between each set: "cu-cu-cu-cu, cu-cu-cu-cu"

Conservation Status

High Priority concern on Audubon Watch List; regional high-priority species for conservation in Midwest.

Other Names

Coulicou à bec noir (French)
Cuclillo piquinegre, Cuclillo pico negro (Spanish)

Cool Facts

• Cuckoos eat many spiny caterpillars and the spines stick in the lining of the stomach. The stomach lining is periodically shed to remove the spines.

• The apparent tendency to call more frequently before rain explains why both Black-billed and Yellow-billed cuckoos are called "Rain Crows."

• Like its Old World relatives, the Black-billed Cuckoo is known occasionally to lay eggs in the nest of other bird species.

• The time from egg laying to young leaving the nest is, at 17 days, among the shortest for any bird. Despite this speed, most pairs raise only one brood a year.

Sources used to construct this page:

Hughes, J. M. 2001. Black-billed Cuckoo (Coccyzus erythropthalmus). In The Birds of North America, No. 587 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA.