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".
Region
Eastern North America and northern South America
Typical Environment
Breeds across southern Canada and the northeastern to north-central United States, favoring thickets, young deciduous woods, and riparian shrublands. It frequents overgrown edges, willow and alder stands, and brushy marsh margins where caterpillars are abundant. During migration it moves through the Caribbean and Central America. In winter it occupies lowland and foothill forests and edges in northern South America, often near water and second-growth.
Altitude Range
Sea level to 1800 m
Climate Zone
Other
Ease of Keeping
Beginner friendly: 1/5
This slender, secretive cuckoo specializes in eating hairy caterpillars that many birds avoid; it can line its stomach with the caterpillar spines and later shed them. Its breeding often peaks during caterpillar outbreaks, and the species can nest rapidly with short incubation and fledging periods. Mostly rearing its own young, it only rarely parasitizes other birds’ nests.
This juvenile black-billed cuckoo was banded at McGill Bird Observatory (MBO) in June 2015.
Black-billed cuckoo preying on tent caterpillar nest
Coccyzus erythropthalmus - MHNT
Adult black-billed cuckoo hiding in some branches.
Comparison of black-billed cuckoo and yellow-billed cuckoo
Temperament
secretive and shy
Flight Pattern
short rapid wingbeats with brief glides, usually low and direct
Social Behavior
Mostly solitary outside the breeding season, forming pairs during nesting. Builds a flimsy twig nest in shrubs or small trees; both sexes incubate and feed the young. Clutches are small, and hatching is often asynchronous; it occasionally lays in other species’ nests but usually raises its own brood.
Migratory Pattern
Seasonal migrant
Song Description
Gives a series of soft, hollow cooing notes—cu-cu-cu—often accelerating or decelerating in tempo. Also produces harsh krr-krr and knocking clucks, especially when agitated. Vocalizations carry modestly through dense foliage.
