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Yellow-billed Cuckoo - Coccyzus americanus
Species of Concern Native Species Global Rank :
G5
State Rank :
S3B
Agency Status USFWS :
PS: LT; MBTA
USFS :
BLM :
THREATENED
FWP SWAP :
SGCN3, SGIN
PIF :
2
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Copyright by Borror Laboratory of Bioacoustics, Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, all rights reserved.
General Description
A slender bird with a long, distinctly patterned tail and white throat and breast. The back and head of the Yellow-billed Cuckoo are a plain grayish-brown. Consistent with its common name, the stout, somewhat curved bill is primarily yellow (the upper mandible is mostly black, with some yellow, while the lower mandible is yellow in its entirety). The boldly white and black patterned outer tail feathers, or rectrices, which from underneath give the appearance of 6 large white spots, can generally be observed during perching and in flight. The rufous primary feathers of this cuckoo are largely only visible in flight. The bird is generally 26 to 30 cm in length and weighs an average 55 to 65 grams (Hughes 1999). Females are slightly larger than males. The feet of the Yellow-billed Cuckoo are similar to that of the woodpeckers; they are zygodactylous; the two outer toes point backward while the two inner toes point forward (Hughes 1999).
For a comprehensive review of the conservation status, habitat use, and ecology of this and other Montana bird species, please see
Marks et al. 2016, Birds of Montana. Diagnostic Characteristics
Characteristics of the Black-billed Cuckoo (C. erythropthalmus ), may cause some uncertainty in identification. In addition to a completely black bill, however, the Black-billed Cuckoo has a buffy throat, small distinct white tips on the rectrices (not large and obvious as on the Yellow-billed Cuckoo), little to no rufous on the wings, and a red orbital ring around the eyes. The juveniles are more easily confused (see Hughes 1999, for a comparative description of juvenile birds).
Species Range
Montana Range
Range Descriptions Western Hemisphere Range
eBird Occurrence Map
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Observations in Montana Natural Heritage Program Database
Number of Observations: 52
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Relative Density
Recency
SUMMER (Feb 16 - Dec 14)
Direct Evidence of Breeding
Indirect Evidence of Breeding
No Evidence of Breeding
WINTER (Dec 15 - Feb 15)
Regularly Observed
Not Regularly Observed
(Observations spanning multiple months or years are excluded from time charts)
Migration
Little to no information regarding Yellow-billed Cuckoo migratory patterns exists for Montana. Of the few records containing any details on the month of observation (many of them are historic records with limited detail) the Yellow-billed Cuckoo is known in Montana only in June and July (Montana Bird Distribution Committee 2012). All of these observations indicate no behavioral evidence to suggest breeding. No systematic censuses have been performed and no other information is available on migration.
Habitat
Throughout their range, preferred breeding habitat includes open woodland (especially where undergrowth is thick), parks, and deciduous riparian woodland. In the West, they nest in tall cottonwood and willow riparian woodlands. Nests are found in trees, shrubs or vines, an average of 1 to 3 meters above ground (Harrison 1979). Western subspecies require patches of at least 10 hectares (25 acres) of dense, riparian forest with a canopy cover of at least 50 percent in both the understory and overstory. Nests are typically found in mature willows (Biosystems Analysis, Inc. 1989). This bird is rarely found at higher elevations (Johnsgard 1986).
Ecological Systems Associated with this Species
Details on Creation and Suggested Uses and Limitations
How Associations Were Made
We associated the use and habitat quality (common or occasional) of each of the 82 ecological systems mapped in Montana for
vertebrate animal species that regularly breed, overwinter, or migrate through the state by:
Using personal observations and reviewing literature that summarize the breeding, overwintering, or migratory habitat requirements of each species (Dobkin 1992, Hart et al. 1998, Hutto and Young 1999, Maxell 2000, Foresman 2012, Adams 2003, and Werner et al. 2004);
Evaluating structural characteristics and distribution of each ecological system relative to the species' range and habitat requirements;
Examining the observation records for each species in the state-wide point observation database associated with each ecological system;
Calculating the percentage of observations associated with each ecological system relative to the percent of Montana covered by each ecological system to get a measure of "observations versus availability of habitat".
Species that breed in Montana were only evaluated for breeding habitat use, species that only overwinter in Montana were only evaluated for overwintering habitat use, and species that only migrate through Montana were only evaluated for migratory habitat use.
In general, species were listed as associated with an ecological system if structural characteristics of used habitat documented in the literature were present in the ecological system or large numbers of point observations were associated with the ecological system.
However, species were not listed as associated with an ecological system if there was no support in the literature for use of structural characteristics in an ecological system,
even if point observations were associated with that system.
Common versus occasional association with an ecological system was assigned based on the degree to which the structural characteristics of an ecological system matched the preferred structural habitat characteristics for each species as represented in scientific literature.
The percentage of observations associated with each ecological system relative to the percent of Montana covered by each ecological system was also used to guide assignment of common versus occasional association.
If you have any questions or comments on species associations with ecological systems, please contact the Montana Natural Heritage Program's Senior Zoologist.
Suggested Uses and Limitations
Species associations with ecological systems should be used to generate potential lists of species that may occupy broader landscapes for the purposes of landscape-level planning.
These potential lists of species should not be used in place of documented occurrences of species (this information can be requested at:
mtnhp.org/requests ) or systematic surveys for species and evaluations of habitat at a local site level by trained biologists.
Users of this information should be aware that the land cover data used to generate species associations is based on imagery from the late 1990s and early 2000s and was only intended to be used at broader landscape scales.
Land cover mapping accuracy is particularly problematic when the systems occur as small patches or where the land cover types have been altered over the past decade.
Thus, particular caution should be used when using the associations in assessments of smaller areas (e.g., evaluations of public land survey sections).
Finally, although a species may be associated with a particular ecological system within its known geographic range, portions of that ecological system may occur outside of the species' known geographic range.
Literature Cited
Adams, R.A. 2003. Bats of the Rocky Mountain West; natural history, ecology, and conservation. Boulder, CO: University Press of Colorado. 289 p.
Dobkin, D. S. 1992. Neotropical migrant land birds in the Northern Rockies and Great Plains. USDA Forest Service, Northern Region. Publication No. R1-93-34. Missoula, MT.
Foresman, K.R. 2012. Mammals of Montana. Second edition. Mountain Press Publishing, Missoula, Montana. 429 pp.
Hart, M.M., W.A. Williams, P.C. Thornton, K.P. McLaughlin, C.M. Tobalske, B.A. Maxell, D.P. Hendricks, C.R. Peterson, and R.L. Redmond. 1998. Montana atlas of terrestrial vertebrates. Montana Cooperative Wildlife Research Unit, University of Montana, Missoula, MT. 1302 p.
Hutto, R.L. and J.S. Young. 1999. Habitat relationships of landbirds in the Northern Region, USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station RMRS-GTR-32. 72 p.
Maxell, B.A. 2000. Management of Montana's amphibians: a review of factors that may present a risk to population viability and accounts on the identification, distribution, taxonomy, habitat use, natural history, and the status and conservation of individual species. Report to U.S. Forest Service Region 1. Missoula, MT: Wildlife Biology Program, University of Montana. 161 p.
Werner, J.K., B.A. Maxell, P. Hendricks, and D. Flath. 2004. Amphibians and reptiles of Montana. Missoula, MT: Mountain Press Publishing Company. 262 p.
Commonly Associated with these Ecological SystemsForest and Woodland Systems
Wetland and Riparian Systems
Occasionally Associated with these Ecological SystemsForest and Woodland Systems
Food Habits
No information is available specific to Montana, but in other parts of their range the main diet of the Yellow-billed Cuckoo is caterpillars. Other insects, some fruits, and sometimes small lizards, frogs and bird eggs are also consumed (Terres 1980). Food is gleaned from branches or foliage, or the Yellow-billed Cuckoo sallies from a perch to catch prey on the wing (Ehrlich et al. 1992).
Ecology
No ecological information for the species is known from Montana, but some information is available from studies completed in other parts of their range. Territory size averages 20 to 24 hectares (Riparian Habitat Joint Venture 2000).
Reproductive Characteristics
No records exist indicating direct evidence of breeding in Montana. Several observations, however, record behavior that indirectly suggests breeding (Montana Bird Distribution Committee 2012). Of the limited records, more than half of them are for observations of individuals showing no breeding behavior and are presumed to be transient (migratory) in nature (Montana Bird Distribution Committee 2012). Reproductive information from other locations within the species' range reveals breeding often coinciding with the appearance of massive numbers of cicadas, caterpillars, or other large insects (Ehrlich et al. 1992). C. erythropthalmus ) or (rarely) other species (Ehrlich et al. 1992).
Management
The western distinct population segment of the Yellow-billed Cuckoo was listed as Threatened west of the Continental Divide in Montana under the Endangered Species Act by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on November 3, 2014 (USFWS 2014). In the listing decision, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service noted the primary factors threatening the western distinct population segment as loss and degradation of habitat for the species from altered watercourse hydrology and natural stream processes, livestock overgrazing, encroachment from agriculture, and conversion of native habitat. No critical habitat or special rules were included in the listing decision (USFWS 2014). Additional information on this species can be found on the
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Yellow-Billed Cuckoo Species Account .
References
Literature Cited AboveLegend:
Additional ReferencesLegend: Do you know of a citation we're missing? Coccyzus americanus ). Species Account Number 418. The Birds of North America Online (A. Poole, Ed.). Ithaca, NY: Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology; Retrieved 3/25/2008 from The Birds of North America Online databaseEffects of recreation on Rocky Mountain wildlife: a review for Montana . [Montana]: Montana Chapter of the Wildlife Society.
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