Black-billed Cuckoo

Coccyzus erythropthalmus

Black-billed Cuckoos nest in groves, forest edges and thickets, especially thickly wooded areas near streams (Harrison 1975). In Missouri, they commonly use willow stands in marshes. Because the primary breeding range of Black-billed Cuckoos lies to the north of Missouri Black-billed Cuckoos are expected in Missouri primarily during migration.

Code Frequency

Because of the late and variable timing of the spring migration of cuckoos (Robbins and Easterla 1992), some late migrants may have been recorded as possible breeders in a number of the blocks. Consequently, data from probable and confirmed blocks may provide the best representation of the Black-billed Cuckoo's distribution in Missouri. Misidentification of Yellow-billed versus Black-billed cuckoos may also have occurred. However, in 82.5 percent of the blocks where Black-billed Cuckoos were recorded, Yellow-billed Cockoos were also recorded, suggesting that most Atlasers had no difficulty separating the songs and calls of the two species.

Average Number of Birds / 100 stops

Distribution

Phenology

The Black-billed Cuckoo's breeding season apparently extends late into the year as the observation of a nest with Eggs: indicates. The Black-billed Cuckoo's brief 11-day incubation and 10-day rearing periods enable them to rear multiple broods within a single season.

Notes

Although Black-billed Cuckoos have been reported to lay Eggs: in the nests of other birds (Ehrlich et al. 1988), no evidence of the behavior was observed during the Atlas Project.

Breeding Evidence

Reported in 57 (4.7%) of 1,207 blocks

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