Black-billed Cuckoo Similar Species Comparison
Main SpeciesBlack-billed Cuckoo
Adult
Slender, long-tailed bird with a red ring around the eye and a long black bill. From below, note small white tips on the tail feathers.
© Kyle Tansley / Macaulay LibraryVermont, May 30, 2019Adult
Slender, long-tailed bird with a hunchbacked look. Brownish above with little rusty color in the wings. Note black bill and red ring around the eye.
© Ronnie d'Entremont / Macaulay LibraryNova Scotia, May 24, 2017Adult
Plain brown above and white below, with a red ring around the eye and a black bill. Males and females sing a staccato series of 3 to 5 toots on the same pitch, often going on for several minutes.
© Alix d'Entremont / Macaulay LibraryNova Scotia, July 13, 2016Adult
Slender and long-tailed with narrow white tips on the tail feathers.
© Ryan Schain / Macaulay LibraryMassachusetts, May 11, 2017Adult
Slender, long-tailed bird with a hunchbacked look. Brownish above with little rusty color in the wings. Note black bill.
© Simon Best / Macaulay LibraryMaryland, May 23, 2017Adult
Sluggish and secretive it often perches motionless in trees and shrubs.
© Timothy Barksdale / Macaulay LibraryOhio, May 01, 1997Adult
Secretive birds. Found in woodlands and thickets.
© Etienne Artigau🦩 / Macaulay LibraryQuebec, June 01, 2017Adult
Tends to stay hidden in dense foliage and remains motionless for long periods.
© Timothy Barksdale / Macaulay LibraryOhio, May 01, 1997Adult
Eats larger insects such as caterpillars, katydids, cicadas, and grasshoppers, often focusing on insect outbreaks.
© Tom Johnson / Macaulay LibraryWisconsin, July 04, 2015Similar SpeciesMangrove Cuckoo
Adult
Mangrove Cuckoos have peachy washed underparts while Black-billed Cuckoos have white underparts. They also have a bicolored bill, but Black-billed Cuckoos have a solid black bill.
© ryan doherty / Macaulay LibraryCastries, February 16, 2016Similar SpeciesYellow-billed Cuckoo
Adult
Yellow-billed Cuckoos have large white spots on the underside of the tail while Black-billed Cuckoos only have small white tips on the tail feathers. Note name implied bill color difference.
© Benjamin Murphy / Macaulay LibraryIllinois, June 08, 2013
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