Yellow-billed Cuckoo

About the Yellow-billed Cuckoo

The Yellow-billed Cuckoo is a slim, long-tailed bird that is heard far more than seen - a loud, hollow "ka-ka-ka-kow-kow-kowlp" slowing at the end, given from deep cover. It is plain brown above and white below, with rufous flashes in the wings, a down-curved yellow-and-black bill, and big white spots under the dark tail.

Cuckoos move with a strange, deliberate stillness through dense foliage, then lunge for large insects. They are caterpillar specialists, one of the few birds that eat hairy tent caterpillars and webworms in quantity, and their numbers shift year to year with insect outbreaks. Old country names include "rain crow," from the habit of calling on humid, thundery days.

They breed across Texas in riparian woods and thickets from late spring through summer, then slip away to South America.