Yellow-billed Cuckoo often heard but rarely seen in Central Texas

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Probably the yellow-billed cuckoo’s chief diagnostic features are horizontal rows of white dots on the underside of a long tail. One of its calls is a loud “tok, tok, tok, tok," sounding like a clock running down.

July 4, 2010

By Jerry Hall Daily Record Columnist The San Marcos Record Sun Jul 04, 2010, 06:02 AM CDT

San Marcos — I recently received an e-mail from a friend in Austin who has an interest in birds but is not overly concerned about identification.

“I may have to turn into a birder,” she wrote. “Yesterday, I was looking out my sunroom windows, and there was a bird I’d never seen before. It just stood there on the birdbath, in profile, as I quickly wrote down the characteristics: fairly large (similar to cardinal or blue jay); cream throat and breast; dark grayish-brown head, back and tail; a little rust shading on the wing edges; and some white on the tail that looked as if it would be more visible if the tail were fanned out. The nearest thing I could find in my bird book was a cuckoo, which I really don’t think of as a real bird. Isn’t it only found in German clocks?”

Well, from her description, she did see a cuckoo, specifically a yellow-billed cuckoo. It’s a bird which nests in our area during the summer and winters in South America. While here, it is often heard but seldom seen. Probably its chief diagnostic features are horizontal rows of white dots on the underside of a long tail.

One of this bird’s calls is a loud tok, tok, tok, tok – sounding something like a clock running down. It is a secretive creature and prefers open woodlands with clearings and dense scrubby vegetation, often along water.

Like the black-billed cuckoo found further north, the yellow-billed cuckoo develops very rapidly. The total period from egg laying to fledging and leaving the nest lasts only 17 days. About six days after hatching, the feathers of the young burst out of their sheaths and the nestling becomes fully feathered in just two hours.

The bird’s diet consists mainly of large insects, caterpillars and some fruits and seeds. It waits motionless for long periods and then makes quick dashes to catch any prey that gives itself away by moving. It works caterpillars back and forth in its bill before swallowing, perhaps to remove hairs.

I really enjoy seeing the yellow-billed cuckoo, maybe because I so seldom see it. It is a large, handsome specimen, about 11 inches long and with a 16-inch wingspan, but, as I mentioned, it’s hard to spot.

My only sighting this year came when the bird perched on the lower limb of a tree bordering a parking lot – not a likely habitat. I had a decent look without binoculars, but it did not stay long and was soon gone. Count yourself lucky if you see a cuckoo this summer.

It’s a neat bird and you don’t have to buy a German clock to see it.

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Yellow-billed Cuckoo often heard but rarely seen in Central Texas

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