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Bird Identification

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Yellow-billed Cuckoo

Coccyzus americanus L 12" (31cm)

Photo by Maslowski Wildlife Productions.

Listen to a yellow-billed cuckoo.

The most widespread member of the cuckoo family, it is a bird of deciduous woodland and riparian streams, where it feasts on caterpillars. Habitat loss has caused them to almost disappear from much of the West, and they are declining in the East. Cuckoos are hard to see but, when you spot one, the long, slender shape is distinctive. The yellow-billed is separated from the similar black-billed by its the flash of rufous in the wings when it flies, the bright yellow on the lower half of the bill, and the strongly contrasting black and white spots on the underside of the tail. Most often heard rather than seen, the yellow-billed’s common call is a lengthy series of kowp notes that tends to slow down and end in a series of two-noted ka-lowp notes.

This sound file requires RealPlayer. Bird song courtesy of Lang Elliott, NatureSound Studio.

Wading Birds

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