Yellow-billed Cuckoo Coccyzus americanus Linnaeus       Field Guide IDs: NG-244; G-172; PE-182; PW-pl 38; AE-pl 522; AW-pl 562; AM(II)-150 Nest Location Nest Type Eggs & Mating System Dev. & Parental Care Primary & 2ndary Diet.. Foraging Strategy MF I: 9-11 DAYS ALTRICIAL SHRUB 4 feet - 8 feet (3 feet - 20 feet) MF 4 (1-8) MONOG? F: 7-8 DAYS MF HOVER & .......GLEAN HAWKS BREEDING: Open woodland, esp, with dense undergrowth, parks, riparian woodland and thickets. 1 brood, 2? in s. DISPLAYS: Courtship feeding: calling male alights by perched female, mounts shoulder, and places food in her bill. NEST: Unkempt, of twigs, lined with rootlets, dried leaves, rimmed with pine needles, etc. Incomplete at onset of laying. EGGS: Light blue fading to light greenish-yellow. 1.2" (31 mm). DIET: Esp hairy caterpillars, also few bird eggs, frogs, lizards; berries, fruit. Young fed insect regurgitant. CONSERVATION: Winters n S.A. s to e Peru, Bolivia and n Argentina. Blue List 1972-81, 1986; w populations much reduced. Declining in most other areas, as well. NOTES: Occ parasitizes Black-billed Cuckoo, rarely other birds. Breeding often coincides with outbreaks of cicadas, tent caterpillars, etc.; prey abundance may lead to production of excess eggs and thus to brood parasitism. Young hatch asynchronously. Egg-to-fledge time esp short; can climb about branches at ca. 1 week, fly at ca. 3 weeks. First fledglings attended by male, second by female. STANFORD. NOTES: ESSAYS: Decline of Eastern Songbirds; Brood Parasitism; Blue List; Courtship Feeding; Breeding Season; Birds and the Law. REFERENCES: Hamilton and Hamilton, 1965; Nolan and Thompson, 1975; Potter, 1980.