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ForestPlatform nestSmall · 51 g
What the Black-billed Cuckoo sounds like
ID tip
Adults have a long, graduated brown tail and a black, slightly downcurved bill. The head and upper parts are brown and the underparts are white. The feet are zygodactylous. Juveniles are drabber and may contain some rufous coloration on the wing. The adults have a narrow, red orbital ring while the juveniles' is yellow. Black-billed cuckoo chicks have white, sparsely distributed, sheath-like down that contrasts heavily with their black skin. Voice: When they are a couple of days old, the chicks can make a buzzing sound that resembles an insect and a few days later, they can make a low barking call when disturbed. The call of this species is 2–5 sets of "coo" notes that are high-pitched, rapid, and repetitive. There is a slight pause between each set. The phonetics are often written "coo-coo-coo-coo, coo-coo-coo-coo, coo-coo-coo-coo, ...".
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
When to see the Black-billed Cuckoo
One bar for each month. Filled bars are the 5 months with records; pale bars are months with none. The wide bar is May, the month with the most records.
Where to see the Black-billed Cuckoo
The map shades 20 countries with regular records, and 6 more in a lighter tone where the bird turns up only as a stray. Everything unshaded has no records. Countries are listed below the map.
Recorded as a rare visitor in United Kingdom, Portugal, Brazil, Venezuela, Paraguay, Germany.
About the Black-billed Cuckoo
The black-billed cuckoo is a New World species in the Cuculidae (cuckoo) family. The scientific name is from Ancient Greek. The genus name, kokkuzo, means to call like a common cuckoo, and erythropthalmus is from eruthros, "red" and ophthalmos, "eye".
Text adapted from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Easily confused with
Mangrove CuckooCoccyzus minorAdults have a long tail, brown above and black-and-white below, and a black curved bill with yellow on the lower mandible.
Dark-billed CuckooCoccyzus melacoryphusThe dark-billed cuckoo is 25 to 28 cm (9.8 to 11.0 in) long, about half of which is the tail.
Great Lizard CuckooCoccyzus merliniThe great lizard cuckoo is the largest species in genus Coccyzus.
Side by side: Black-billed Cuckoo vs Yellow-billed Cuckoo · Black-billed Cuckoo vs Guira Cuckoo · Black-billed Cuckoo vs Mangrove Cuckoo · Black-billed Cuckoo vs Dark-billed Cuckoo · Black-billed Cuckoo vs Great Lizard Cuckoo
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