Measurements
Both Sexes
- Length
- 11–12.2 in
28–31 cm - Wingspan
- 13.4–15.7 in
34–40 cm - Weight
- 1.4–2.3 oz
40–65 g
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.
Habitat
Forest
Black-billed Cuckoos are birds of woodlands and thickets, including aspen, poplar, birch, sugar maple, hickory, hawthorn, and willow. They tend to occur in more extensive tracts of woods than the Yellow-billed Cuckoo and are more likely to be found in deciduous than coniferous woods. On their South American wintering grounds they live in forest, woodlands, and scrub.
Food
Insects
Black-billed Cuckoos eat large insects such as caterpillars, katydids, cicadas, and grasshoppers. They seem to have a particular appetite for large caterpillars—collected individuals have often been found with more than 100 in their stomach at once. Along with Yellow-billed Cuckoo, this is one of only two species found to be more numerous during periodic cicada emergences in a recent analysis. Black-billed Cuckoos occasionally eat eggs of other birds. On their wintering grounds they also eat fruit and seeds.
Nesting
Nesting Facts
- Clutch Size
- 2–5 eggs
- Number of Broods
- 1-2 broods
- Egg Length
- 0.9–1.3 in
2.4–3.3 cm - Egg Width
- 0.7–0.9 in
1.8–2.4 cm - Incubation Period
- 10–11 days
- Nestling Period
- 6–7 days
- Egg Description
- Greenish-blue, unmarked.
- Condition at Hatching
- Helpless, but alert and active within minutes of hatching. Shiny black skin, no down.
Nest Description
Both adults help build the nest, with the female laying eggs in it before it's completed. The nest is flimsy—a shallow cup made of twigs and grasses and lined with dead or green leaves, pine needles, stalks, plant fibers, rootlets, mosses, and spider webs. The finished nest is about 6 inches across, with an inner cup that is 3 inches across and less than an inch deep.
Nest Placement
Tree
Black-billed Cuckoos hide their nests among leaves or tangles in deciduous trees, shrubs, or brambles (occasionally coniferous trees such as hemlock). Nests are usually less than 7 feet off the ground but can be up to 50 feet high.
Behavior
Foliage Gleaner
Black-billed Cuckoos catch prey by sitting motionless for long periods, then running or hopping out at prey. They often shake and hammer caterpillars against a branch to remove their spines before swallowing. Black-billed Cuckoos occasionally lay eggs in nests of other birds, though they do this far less often than the European cuckoo or the Brown-headed Cowbird. Among their hosts are other Black-billed Cuckoos, Yellow-billed Cuckoos, Chipping Sparrows, American Robins, Gray Catbirds, Wood Thrushes, and six other species. Young leave the nest at 6-7 days old, about two weeks before they will be able to fly. Waits motionless for long periods, watching for prey to move.
Conservation
Least Concern
Black-billed Cuckoo is listed as a High Priority concern on Audubon Watch Lists. Because caterpillars are a main prey they can be susceptible to pesticide use. Black-billed Cuckoos are also frequently felled by collisions with TV towers, tall buildings, and other structures during migration. Their populations fluctuate considerably from year to year as the birds move from place to place following outbreaks of prey. This variability makes it difficult to determine whether their overall numbers show a trend upward or downward. Several regional (statewide) estimates suggest that populations are declining, however.
Credits
- 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.