12-22-2016
Coccyzus americanus
Coccyzus americanus NatureServe Explorer Species Reports — NatureServe Explorer is a source for authoritative conservation information on more than 50,000 plants, animals and ecological communtities of the U.S and Canada. NatureServe Explorer provides in-depth information on rare and endangered species, but includes common plants and animals too. NatureServe Explorer is a product of NatureServe in collaboration with the Natural Heritage Network.
ITIS Reports — Coccyzus americanus ITIS (the Integrated Taxonomic Information System) is a source for authoritative taxonomic information on plants, animals, fungi, and microbes of North America and the world.Adults have a long tail, brown above and black-and-white below, and a black curved bill with yellow especially on the lower mandible. The head and upper parts are brown and the underparts are white. There is a yellow ring around the eye. It shows cinnamon on the wings in flight. Juveniles are similar, but the black on the undertail is replaced by gray. There is an ongoing debate regarding the taxonomic status of the western race and if it is distinct from those birds in the east. This question is significant to the conservation status of this species in the west, where it has declined to a tiny fraction of its population a century ago.[4][5][6] Populations of this species in western North America are in steep decline. The bird disappeared from British Columbia, Washington, and Oregon during the first half of the twentieth century. Eastern populations have declined as well, though not as precipitously. The United States Fish and Wildlife Service
FWS Digital Media Library — The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s National Digital Library is a searchable collection of selected images, historical artifacts, audio clips, publications, and video.
Detailed information
Full Name: Yellow-Billed Cuckoo (Coccyzus americanus)
Where found: Western DPS: U.S.A. (AZ, CA, CO (western), ID, MT (western), NM (western), NV, OR, TX (western), UT, WA, WY (western)); Canada (British Columbia (southwestern); Mexico (Baja California, Baja California Sur, Chihuahua, Durango (western), Sinaloa, Sonora)
Critical Habitat:N/A
Species Group:Birds
Current listing status
| Status | Date Listed | Lead Region | Where Listed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Threatened | 11/03/2014 | California/Nevada Region (Region 8) | Western DPS: U.S.A. (AZ, CA, CO (western), ID, MT (western), NM (western), NV, OR, TX (western), UT, WA, WY (western)); Canada (British Columbia (southwestern); Mexico (Baja California, Baja California Sur, Chihuahua, Durango (western), Sinaloa, Sonora) |
- Cornell Lab of Ornithology. 2015. Yellow-billed Cuckoo. All About Birds. http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Yellow-billed_Cuckoo/id
- Hughes, Janice M. 2015. Yellow-billed Cuckoo (Coccyzus americanus), The Birds of North America Online (A. Poole, Ed.). Ithaca: Cornell Lab of Ornithology; Retrieved from the Birds of North America Online: http://bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/418
- Laymon, S. A. 1998. Yellow-billed Cuckoo (Coccycus americanus). In The Riparian Bird Conservation Plan:a strategy for reversing the decline of riparian-associated birds in California. California Partners in Flight. http://www.prbo.org/calpif/htmldocs/riparian_v-2.html
- Partners in Flight. 2012. Species assessment database. http://rmbo.org/pifassessment/Database.aspx
- USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center. 2012. North American Breeding Bird Survey 1966-2010 analysis. http://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/bbs/specl10.html
- States/US Territories in which the Yellow-Billed Cuckoo, Western U.S. DPS is known to or is believed to occur: Arizona , California , Colorado , Idaho , Montana , Nevada , New Mexico , Oregon , Texas , Utah , Washington , Wyoming
- US Counties in which the Yellow-Billed Cuckoo, Western U.S. DPS is known to or is believed to occur: View All
- USFWS Refuges in which the Yellow-Billed Cuckoo, Western U.S. DPS is known to occur: Bill Williams River National Wildlife Refuge, Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge, Browns Park National Wildlife Refuge, Butte Sink Wildlife Management Area, Cibola National Wildlife Refuge ... Show All Refuges
- Countries in which the the Yellow-Billed Cuckoo, Western U.S. DPS is known to occur: Canada, Mexico, United States
- Additional species information
Current Listing Status SummaryStatus Date Listed Lead Region Where Listed Threatened 11/03/2014 California/Nevada Region (Region 8) Western DPS: U.S.A. (AZ, CA, CO (western), ID, MT (western), NM (western), NV, OR, TX (western), UT, WA, WY (western)); Canada (British Columbia (southwestern); Mexico (Baja California, Baja California Sur, Chihuahua, Durango (western), Sinaloa, Sonora) Species Occurrence
Population(s)
Western U.S. DPS
» Federal Register Documents
Federal Register Documents» Recovery
No recovery information is available for the Yellow-Billed Cuckoo.» Critical Habitat
To learn more about critical habitat please see http://ecos.fws.gov/crithabCritical Habitat Spatial Extents
Population(s)
Proposed Western U.S. DPS
» Conservation Plans
Habitat Conservation Plans (HCP) (learn more)» Petitions
» Life History
Habitat Requirements
Yellow-billed Cuckoos use wooded habitat with dense cover and water nearby, including woodlands with low, scrubby, vegetation, overgrown orchards, abandoned farmland, and dense thickets along streams and marshes. In the Midwest, look for cuckoos in shrublands of mixed willow and dogwood, and in dense stands of small trees such as American elm. In the central and eastern U.S., Yellow-billed Cuckoos nest in oaks, beech, hawthorn, and ash. In the West, nests are often placed in willows along streams and rivers, with nearby cottonwoods serving as foraging sites.Food Habits
Caterpillars top the list of Yellow-Billed Cuckoo prey: individual cuckoos eat thousands of caterpillars per season. On the East coast, periodic outbreaks of tent caterpillars draw cuckoos to eat as many as 100 caterpillars in one sitting. Fall webworms and the larvae of gypsy, brown-tailed, and white-marked tussock moths are also part of the cuckoos lepidopteran diet, often supplemented with beetles, ants, and spiders. They take advantage of the annual outbreaks of cicadas, katydids and crickets, and will hop to the ground to chase frogs and lizards. In summer and fall, cuckoos forage on small wild fruits, including elderberries, blackberries and wild grapes. In winter, fruit and seeds become a larger part of their diet.Movement / Home Range
Yellow-billed Cuckoos breed throughout much of the eastern and central U.S., winter almost entirely in South America east of the Andes, and migrate through Central America. The western subspecies (C.a. occidentalis) has disappeared over much of the western U.S. and now occurs as a rare breeder in California, Arizona, New Mexico, and west Texas.Reproductive Strategy
The male and female Yellow-billed Cuckoo build a flat, oblong platform nest together constructed of loose sticks, using twigs collected from the ground or snapped from nearby trees and shrubs. The pair may line the nest sparingly with strips of bark or dried leaves. The male sometimes continues bringing in nest materials after incubation has begun. Pairs may visit prospective nest sites multiple times before building a nest together.Other
In the West, much of the Yellow-Billed Cuckoos riparian habitat has been converted to farmland and housing, leading to population declines and the possible extirpation of cuckoos from British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, and Nevada. Once common in the California Central Valley, coastal valleys, and riparian habitats east of the Sierra Nevada, habitat loss now constrains the California breeding population to small numbers of birds. As long-distance, nocturnal migrants, Yellow-Billed Cuckoos are also vulnerable to collisions with tall buildings, cell towers, radio antennas, wind turbines, and other structures.Yellow-billed Cuckoo populations declined by 1.6 percent per year between 1966 and 2010. Partners in Flight estimates the global breeding population at about 9 million, with 84 percent breeding in the U.S., 10 percent in Mexico, and none in Canada. For more information on this species, including occurence, conservation strategies and recovery actions in specific states or regions, refer to the following resource: - Laymon, S. A. 1998. Yellow-billed Cuckoo (Coccycus americanus). In The Riparian Bird Conservation Plan:a strategy for reversing the decline of riparian-associated birds in California. California Partners in Flight. http://www.prbo.org/calpif/htmldocs/riparian_v-2.html
» Other Resources
NatureServe Explorer Species Reports -- NatureServe Explorer is a source for authoritative conservation information on more than 50,000 plants, animals and ecological communtities of the U.S and Canada. NatureServe Explorer provides in-depth information on rare and endangered species, but includes common plants and animals too. NatureServe Explorer is a product of NatureServe in collaboration with the Natural Heritage Network. ITIS Reports -- ITIS (the Integrated Taxonomic Information System) is a source for authoritative taxonomic information on plants, animals, fungi, and microbes of North America and the world. FWS Digital Media Library -- The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's National Digital Library is a searchable collection of selected images, historical artifacts, audio clips, publications, and video.
Federal register documents
Recovery
No recovery information is available for the Yellow-Billed Cuckoo.
| 08/15/2014 | 79 FR 48547 48652 | Designation of Critical Habitat for the Western Distinct Population Segment of the Yellow-Billed Cuckoo | Proposed Rule | Proposed |
| 08/15/2014 | 79 FR 48547 48652 | Designation of Critical Habitat for the Western Distinct Population Segment of the Yellow-Billed Cuckoo | Proposed Rule | Proposed |
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