12 inches long. The Yellow-billed Cuckoo is a slender long-tailed bird with yellow at the base of the lower bill. There is a yellow ring around the eyes. The head, nape, back, and upperwings are brown. The chin, breast, and belly are white. It is often possible to see cinnamon inner webs on the primaries when the bird is perched. The undertail is black with large white spots.
The Yellow-billed Cuckoo is a common breeding summer resident that can appear as early as late April and departs by mid October.
The Yellow-billed Cuckoo is secretive, retiring, and watchful by nature. It mostly eats caterpillars. The onset of breeding is apparently correlated with an abundant local food supply. Its population has been declining precipitously. It has been dubbed the “Raincrow” because of its apparent tendency to call more frequently on cloudy days. The call is a series of guttural knocking “ku-ku-ku-ku-kow-kow-kow-kow-kowlp-kowlp-kowlp-kowl” that slows down at the end.
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