The Yellow-billed Cuckoo is a slim brown-backed bird that breeds from
southern Canada to Mexico and from California to the Caribbean islands (A.O.U.
1983). Common throughout the southeastern United States, it reaches its
maximum abundance in the central states of Oklahoma and Texas (Sauer et
al. 1995). It is considerably rarer west of central Texas (Sauer et al.
1995). This cuckoo undergoes a long migration and spends the winter in
South America.
Many of the world's cuckoos are brood parasites but the
North American species (including the Yellow-billed Cuckoo) rarely lay
their eggs in other birds' nests (Bent 1940, Hughes 1997). The
Yellow-billed Cuckoo and the Black-billed Cuckoo are two of the few North
American birds that readily eat hairy caterpillars. They are often
abundant when an outbreak of these pests occurs (Bent 1940, Ickes 1992). The Yellow-billed Cuckoo generally spends the winter
months in South America, although there are several sight records between
December and February along the Texas coast and in Hidalgo County (Oberholser
1974). Pulich (1988) even listed two December records from the northern
part of the state. However, it is generally present in Texas only from
April to October (Oberholser 1974). Therefore, there is a good chance that
most birds recorded by the TBBAP were breeding. DISTRIBUTION: The Yellow-billed Cuckoo is common and
widespread throughout Texas but becomes less common and more local in the
western part of the state. The TBBAP recorded it in virtually every
section east of the 100th meridian, but recorded it sporadically (with
only 3 confirmed records) west of the 103rd meridian. Oberholser (1974)
considered it common to uncommon throughout the state but he listed only
scattered breeding records in the west. Pulich (1988) considered it among
the most common summer birds in north central Texas. SEASONAL OCCURRENCE: Because of its secretive nature,
the Yellow-billed Cuckoo proved to be a very difficult species to confirm.
Only 18% of the 1388 TBBAP records were confirmations. Of these, 28 were
records of nests with eggs or young. |
Cuckoos are absent from the
state during the non-breeding season. Therefore, most of the possible and
probable TBBAP records likely also represent breeding individuals. BREEDING HABITAT: The Yellow-billed Cuckoo is a
secretive, sluggish bird that is hard to observe and can vanish into the
foliage (Howell & Webb 1995). It seems to prefer more open woodlands
than the Black-billed Cuckoo (Ickes 1992). Mature bottomland forests are
an important habitat for this bird and for many neo-tropical migrants
(Buffington et al. 1997). It will nest in thickets, scrubby fields,
abandoned farmland, and unsprayed orchards (Bent 1940, Bull 1964). Many of
the records from the Cornell University Nest Record Card Program are of
nests in fencerows and shrubby pastures. Even on migration it seems to
prefer scrub/shrub type habitat (Moore et al. 1990). STATUS: Although it is still a common bird in Texas,
the Yellow-billed Cuckoos numbers are diminishing. Like many neo-tropical
migrants it has declined considerably throughout its range in the past
thirty years (Sauer et al. 1996). It has shown a substantial decline in
virtually all regions of the country. In Texas, BBS data indicate that it
declined by a statistically significant 2% per year from 1966 to 1996
(Sauer et al. 1996). Several factors combine to explain this decline. The
most apparent reasons are the loss of habitat (both on its breeding and
wintering grounds) and forest fragmentation, which is believed to cause
increased predation on nests (Wilcove & Robinson 1990). It also
suffers from modern farming practices that eliminate hedgerows, fencerows,
and similar overgrown areas. The disturbance of mature riparian woods in
the west caused it to be placed on the Blue List of species of special
concern (Tate & Tate 1982). The continued decline of such habitats
poses a concern for the long-term success of the Yellow-billed Cuckoo and
other species that depend on them. |
