Black-billed cuckoo
Coccyzus erythropthalmus
Identification Tips:
- Sexes similar
- Slender, long-tailed bird
- Black bill
Adult:
- Red orbital ring
- Cold brown head, nape, back, upperwings, and uppertail
- White chin, foreneck, breast and belly
- Tail is gray below with very narrow white tips to tail feathers
Juvenile:
- Yellow orbital ring
- Brown head, nape, back, upperwings and uppertail, with pale tips to wing
coverts
- White chin, foreneck, breast and belly suffused with pale buff
- Tail is gray below with very narrow buff tips to tail feathers
Similar species:
Adult Yellow-billed Cuckoo has yellow-based bill and cinnamon primaries in
all plumages, and larger white tail spots below. Juvenile Yellow-billed Cuckoos
can be black-billed and can have small tail spots and are best identified by
primary pattern. Mangrove Cuckoo has yellow-based bill, black mask, buff breast
and larger white tail spots below.