Black-billed Cuckoo (Coccyzus erythropthalmus)

Identification & Behavior: ~39 cm (15.3 in). The Black-billed Cuckoo is brownish-gray above and whitish below. It has a washed buff throat. The bill is black with a bluish base of the mandible. The iris is dark. It shows bright red orbital skin. It has a very long gray tail tipped with white fringes. It is similar to the Dark-billed Cuckoo but is distinguished by having a gray tail without large white tips on the tail and red orbital skin. Also, see Ash-colored Cuckoo.

Status: The Black-billed Cuckoo is a rare Austral migrant to the foothills of the eastern Andes and the humid and semideciduous forest of northwest Peru. It is known to range to elevations of up to 2000 m along the foothills of the Andes. It also occurs in Co, Ec, Br, and Bo.

Name in Spanish: Cuclillo de Pico Negro.

Sub-species: Black-billed Cuckoo (Coccyzus erythropthalmus), A. Wilson, 1811.

Meaning of Name: Coccyzus: Gr. kokkuzö, kokku= crying, crying cuckoo. erythropthalmus: Gr. eruthros= red and ophthalmos= eye.

See more of the Family Cuculidae