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BC Conservation Data Centre: Species Summary


Coccyzus americanus
Yellow-billed Cuckoo

 
Scientific Name: Coccyzus americanus (Linnaeus, 1758)
English Name: Yellow-billed Cuckoo
 
Classification / Taxonomy
Scientific Name - Concept Reference: American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 1998. Check-list of North American birds. Seventh edition. American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C. [as modified by subsequent supplements and corrections published in The Auk]. Also available online: http://www.aou.org/.
Classification Level: Species
Species Group: Vertebrate Animal
Species Code: B-YBCU
Kingdom Phylum Class Order Family
Animalia Craniata Aves Cuculiformes Cuculidae
   
Conservation Status / Legal Designation
Global Status: G5 (Apr 2016)
Provincial Status: SXB (Mar 2022)
BC List: Red
Provincial FRPA list:   
Provincial Wildlife Act:
COSEWIC Status:
SARA Schedule:
General Status Canada: 4 - Secure (2005)
Migratory Bird Convention Act: Y
   
Ecology & Life History
General Description:
Global Reproduction Comments: Breeding often coincides with the appearance of massive numbers of cicadas, caterpillars, or other large insects (Ehrlich et al. 1992). Clutch size is one to five (commonly two to three), largest when prey is abundant. Clutch sizes greater than six attributable to more than one female laying in nest (Hughes 1999). Incubation lasts 9-11, shared by male and female during day; male incubates at night (Hamilton and Hamilton 1965, Potter 1980, Potter 1981). Young are tended by both parents, climb in branches at seven-nine days. Sometimes lays eggs in the nests of Black-billed Cuckoo (Coccyzus erythropthalmus) or (rarely) other species (Ehrlich et al. 1992).
Global Ecology Comments: Territory size averages 20-24 hectares (S. Laymon, in Riparian Habitat Joint Venture 2000).

Known predators of adults include Aplomado Falcon (Falco femoralis), Red-shouldered Hawk (Buteo lineatus), and other raptors; of eggs and young include Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata), Common Grackle (Quiscalus quiscula), Black Racer (Coluber constrictor) and Eastern Chipmunk (Tamias striatus) (Hughes 1999). Occasional host for Brown-headed Cowbird (Molothrus ater), Bronzed Cowbird (Molothrus aeneus), and Black-billed Cuckoo (Coccyzus erythropthalmus) (Hughes 1999).
Migration Characteristics:
(Global / Provincial)		 
    Nonmigrant:
    Local Migrant:
    Distant Migrant:
    Within Borders Migrant: 		N /
N /
Y /
na /
Global Migration Comments: Migrates regularly through the southern U.S., Middle America, and West Indies (sometimes large numbers in fall in Puerto Rico, Raffaele 1983). Birds from North America may migrate through Puerto Rico, but a small breeding population may be resident all year (Kepler and Kepler 1978). Migrants noted in April-May in Jamaica (Lack 1976). Migrates through Costa Rica mid-August to early November and late April-early June (Stiles and Skutch 1989). Arrives in California breeding grounds usually in early June (Biosystems Analysis 1989).
Habitats:
(Type / Subtype / Dependence) 		Agriculture / Hedgerow / Facultative - occasional use
Forest / Deciduous/Broadleaf Forest / Facultative - occasional use
Forest / Mixed Forest (deciduous/coniferous mix) / Facultative - occasional use
Grassland/Shrub / Shrub - Natural / Facultative - frequent use
Riparian / Riparian Forest / Facultative - occasional use
Riparian / Riparian Shrub / Facultative - frequent use
Wetland / Swamp / Facultative - occasional use
Global Habitat Comments: BREEDING: Open woodland (especially where undergrowth is thick), parks, deciduous riparian woodland; in the West, nests in tall cottonwood and willow riparian woodland. Nests in deciduous woodlands, moist thickets, orchards, overgrown pastures; in tree, shrub, or vine, an average of 1-3 meters above ground (Harrison 1979). Subspecies occidentalis requires patches of at least 10 hectares (25 acres) of dense riparian forest with a canopy cover of at least 50 percent in both the understory and overstory; nests typically in mature willows (Biosystems Analysis 1989).

NONBREEDING: forest, woodland, and scrub. Also mangroves in Puerto Rico (Raffaele 1983).
Food Habits: Invertivore: Adult, Immature
Global Food Habits Comments: Eats mainly caterpillars; also other insects, some fruits, sometimes small lizards and frogs and bird eggs (Terres 1980). Gleans food from branches or foliage, or sallies from a perch to catch prey on the wing (Ehrlich et al. 1992).
Global Phenology: Diurnal: Adult, Immature
Provincial Phenology:
(1st half of month/
2nd half of month)
Colonial Breeder: N
Length(cm)/width(cm)/Weight(g): 31/ / 64
Elevation (m) (min / max): Global: 
Provincial: 
   
 
Distribution
Endemic: N
Global Range Comment: The breeding range extends from interior California to southern Idaho, southeastern Montana, the Dakotas, southern Manitoba (rarely), Minnesota, and New Brunswick, and south to southern Baja California, southern Arizona, Coahuila, Chihuahua, Nuevo Leon, Tamaulipas, the U.S. Gulf Coast, and the Florida Keys; sporadically farther south in Mexico and in the Greater Antilles (AOU 1998). The species is uncommon on Cuba, Hispaniola, and Puerto Rico; rare in the Virgin Islands, Jamaica, and northern Lesser Antilles (Saint Martin)m and possibly occurs in the Bahamas and Lesser Antilles (Raffaele et al. 1998). Yellow-billed cuckoos formerly nested in British Columbia, Washington, and Oregon. Based on Breeding Bird Survey data (Sauer et al. 2008), this species is most abundant in the south-central United States (Kansas and Missouri southward to Texas and Mississippi). During the nonbreeding season, yellow-billed cuckoos occur from southern Central America (rare and local in Costa Rica) and northern South America (and Trinidad and Tobago) south to eastern Peru, Bolivia, and northern Argentina (AOU 1998) and occur rarely in the West Indies (Raffaele et al. 1998).
 
Authors / Contributors
Global Information Author: HAMMERSON, G., REVISIONS BY B. BROWN AND J. HUGHES
Last Updated: Nov 11, 2005
Provincial Information Author:
Last Updated:
   
References and Related Literature
American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 1983. Check-list of North American Birds, 6th edition. Allen Press, Inc., Lawrence, Kansas. 877 pp.
Backhouse, F. 2000. Extinct and Extirpated Species. B.C. Minist. Environ., Lands and Parks, Wildl. Branch. 6pp.
Banks, R. C. 1988. Geographic variation in the yellow-billed cuckoo. Condor 90:473-477.
Bent, A.C. 1940. Life histories of North American cuckoos, goatsuckers, hummingbirds, and their allies. Part I. U.S. National Museum Bulletin 176. 244 pp.
Biosystems Analysis, Inc. 1989. Endangered Species Alert Program Manual: Species Accounts and Procedures. Southern California Edison Environmental Affairs Division.
California Department of Fish and Game (CDF&G). 1990. 1989 annual report on the status of California's state listed threatened and endangered plants and animals. 188 pp.
Campbell, R.W., N.K. Dawe, I. McTaggart-Cowan, et al. 1990b. The Birds of British Columbia Vol. 2: Nonpasserines: Diurnal Birds of Prey through Woodpeckers. Royal British Columbia Museum, Victoria, BC.
Carter, M., G. Fenwick, C. Hunter, D. Pashley, D. Petit, J. Price, and J. Trapp. 1996. Watchlist 1996: For the future. Field Notes 50(3):238-240.
Droege, S., and J.R. Sauer. 1990. North American Breeding Bird Survey, annual summary, 1989. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Biological Report 90(8). 22 pp.
Ehrlich, P. R., D. S. Dobkin, and D. Wheye. 1992. Birds in Jeopardy: the Imperiled and Extinct Birds of the United States and Canada, Including Hawaii and Puerto Rico. Stanford University Press, Stanford, California. 259 pp.
Hagan, J. M., III, and D. W. Johnston, editors. 1992. Ecology and conservation of neotropical migrant landbirds. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, D.C. xiii + 609 pp.
Harrison, H. H. 1979. A field guide to western birds' nests. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston. 279 pp.
Hughes, J.M. 1999. Yellow-billed Cuckoo (COCCYZUS AMERICANUS). In A. Poole and F. Gill, editors, The Birds of North America, No. 418. The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA. 28 pp.
Hunter, W. C., R. D. Ohmart, and B. W. Anderson. 1988. Use of exotic saltcedar (Tamarix chinensis) by birds in arid riparian systems. Condor 90: 113-123.
Kepler, C. B., and A. K. Kepler. 1978. Status and nesting of the yellow-billed cuckoo in Puerto Rico. Auk 95:417-419.
Lack, D. 1976. Island biology illustrated by the land birds of Jamaica. Studies in Ecology, Vol. 3. Univ. California Press, Berkeley. 445 pp.
Potter, E. F. 1980. Notes on nesting Yellow-billed Cuckoos. Journal of Field Ornithology 51:17-29.
Potter, E. F. 1981. Effects of cool weather on nesting behavior and development in the Yellow-billed Cuckoo. Chat 45:15-16.
Raffaele, H. A. 1983a. A guide to the birds of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Fondo Educativo Interamericano, San Juan, Puerto Rico. 255 pp.
Riparian Habitat Joint Venture. 2000. Version 1.0. The riparian bird conservation plan: a strategy for reversing the decline of riparian associated birds in California. California Partners in Flight. Available at: http://www.prbo.org/CPIF/Riparian/ripariandl.html.
Sauer, J.R., and S. Droege. 1992. Geographical patterns in population trends of Neotropical migrants in North America. Pages 26-42 in J.M. Hagan, III, and D.W. Johnston, editors. Ecology and conservation of Neotropical migrant landbirds. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, DC.
Sauer, J.R., J.E. Hines, G. Gough, I. Thomas, and B.G. Peterjohn. 1997a. The North American Breeding Bird Survey Results and Analysis. Version 96.3. Online. Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, Laurel, MD. Available: http://www.mbr.nbs.gov/bbs/bbs.html.
Stiles, F. G. and A. F. Skutch. 1989. A guide to the birds of Costa Rica. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, New York, USA. 511 pp.
Terres, J. K. 1980. The Audubon Society encyclopedia of North American birds. Alfred A. Knopf, New York.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). 2000. Notice of 90-day finding for a petition to list the Yellow-billed Cuckoo as Endangered and commencement of a status review. Federal Register 65(33):8104-8107.
 

Please visit the website Conservation Status Ranks for definitions of the data fields used in this summary report.

Suggested Citation:

B.C. Conservation Data Centre. 2005. Species Summary: Coccyzus americanus. B.C. Minist. of Environment. Available: https://a100.gov.bc.ca/pub/eswp/ (accessed Jun 10, 2026).