Breeding Location:
Forest edge, Grassland with scattered trees, Bushes, shrubs, and thickets
Breeding Type:
Monogamous, Solitary nester
Breeding Population:
Uncommon to common
Egg Color:
Light blue green to light yellow green
Number of Eggs:
1 - 5
Incubation Days:
9 - 11
Egg Incubator:
Both sexes
Nest Material:
Small sticks with lining of leaves, grasses, mosses, bits of fabric, and catkins from oaks and willow trees.
Migration:
Migratory
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Overview
Yellow-billed Cuckoo: Medium cuckoo, gray-brown upperparts and white underparts. Bill is mostly yellow. Wings are gray-brown with rufous primaries. Tail is long and has white-spotted black edges. Gray legs, feet. Feeds primarily on hairy caterpillars, also insects, larvae, small fruits, and berries.
Range and Habitat
Yellow-billed Cuckoo: Breeds from central California, Minnesota, and southern New Brunswick southward. Spends winters in South America. Preferred habitats include moist thickets, willows, overgrown pastures, and orchards.
Breeding and Nesting
Yellow-billed Cuckoo: One to five light blue green to yellow green eggs are laid in a flimsy saucer of twigs built in a bush or small sapling. Incubation ranges from 9 to 11 days and is carried out by both parents.
Foraging and Feeding
Yellow-billed Cuckoo: Mainly feeds on hairy caterpillars and cicadas; also eats other insects, bird eggs, snails, small vertebrates such as frogs and lizards, berries, and some fruits; forages in trees.
Readily Eats
Suet
Vocalization
Yellow-billed Cuckoo: Song is a rapid, harsh, rattling "ka-ka-ka-ka-ka-ka-kow-kow-kowp, kowp, kowp, kowp", slowing down at the end.
Similar Species
Yellow-billed Cuckoo: Black-billed Cuckoo has red eye-ring, black bill, smaller tail spots, and lacks cinnamon-brown primaries. Mangrove Cuckoo has black mask, buff breast, larger white tail spots, and lacks cinnamon-brown primaries.
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