Bird watching: black-billed cuckoo

Self-tutoring about birds: the tutor reflects about the black-billed cuckoo.

We often hear of cuckoo birds in folk culture, but do they even live in Canada? Yes, two varieties do: the yellow-billed and the black-billed.

The black-billed cuckoo certainly lived in places I did as a kid, but I never knew of it. It’s a shy bird, lurking in dense regrowth. There was much of that around, but I never knew to look in it for the black-billed cuckoo.

Interestingly, the black-billed cuckoo calls out day or night. Like so many birds, you’ll likely hear it before seeing it. In the source link below, a reader can hear how it might sound.

If I ever return to the Maritimes, where the black-billed cuckoo is ubiquitous, I will make a point of searching it.

Source:

Hoar, Tyler L. et al. Birds of Canada. Edmonton: Lone Pine Publishing, 2010.

allaboutbirds.org