Black-Billed Cuckoo (Coccyzus erythropthalmus)

County List:

Rule:

Mixed Forested/Nonforested Landscapes

      Upland Brush
      or Savanna
      or Lowland Brush

Habitat List:

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Literature:

Habitat: The Black-billed Cuckoo like the Yellow-billed Cuckoo is a resident of edge shrubbery and thickets. Although some authors have stated that Black-billed Cuckoos tend to select the older more wooded side of the edge continuum for nesting, the Atlas Habitat Survey suggests otherwise. The Black-billed Cuckoo's peak nesting habitats were shrub uplands and wetlands. Little is known about competition between the two species where habitats overlap. The nest, slightly more sturdy than the Yellow-billed Cuckoo's, platform, is typically placed 1-1.5 m above ground in vine tangles, shrubby hedgerows, or dense conifer growth.

Habitat: Breeding: Brushy pastures, shrubby hedgerows at edges of fields, dry, open upland woods and groves.

Special Habitat Requirements: Low, dense, shrubby vegetation.

Habitat: Wooded edges, groves, thickets. Breeds mostly in deciduous thickets and shrubby places, often on the edges of woodland or around marshes. Also in second growth of mixed deciduous-coniferous woods or along their brushy edges. In migration, seeks any kind of dense cover, usually among young trees or tall shrubs.

Diet: Caterpillars and other insects. Feeds heavily on caterpillars when available, including hairy types such as tent caterpillars; also other insects such as beetles, grasshoppers. Also may eat some snails, small fish, eggs of other birds, and berries and small fruits.

Nest: Site is in shrub or low tree, 1-20 feet above the ground, usually lower than 10 feet, placed among dense branches. May sometimes nest on the ground. Nest is a loose platform of sticks, usually well lined with leaves, grass, pine needles, catkins, other soft material.