Yellow-billed cuckoo
Coccyzus americanus (Linnaeus, 1758)
The yellow-billed cuckoo (Coccyzus americanus) is a species in the family Cuculidae, order Cuculiformes. Recorded adults weigh 59.7 g to 64 g and live up to 5 years. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.
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Quick facts about the yellow-billed cuckoo
- Weight
- 59.7 g – 64 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- 5 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Invertivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- forestsrc for Habitat
- Egg incubation
- 12 dayssrc for Egg incubation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 3.25src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 12 monthssrc for Age at maturity
- Litters or clutches a year
- 1.5src for Litters or clutches a year
- Lifestyle
- Perchingsrc for Lifestyle
- Migration
- Migratorysrc for Migration
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Where does the yellow-billed cuckoo live?
Not recorded
What is the yellow-billed cuckoo?
The yellow-billed cuckoo (Coccyzus americanus) is a member of the cuckoo family. Common folk names for this bird in the southern United States are rain crow and storm crow. These likely refer to the bird's habit of calling on hot days, often presaging rain showers or thunderstorms. The genus name is from the Ancient Greek kokkuzo, which means to call like a common cuckoo, and americanus means "of America".
From the Wikipedia article “Yellow-billed cuckoo” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Yellow-billed_cuckoo&oldid=1380713139), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the yellow-billed cuckoo endangered?
The yellow-billed cuckoo is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species. What the categories mean.
How is the yellow-billed cuckoo classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderCuculiformes
- familyCuculidae
- genusCoccyzus
- SpeciesCoccyzus americanus (Linnaeus, 1758)
Synonyms Coccyzus americanus americanus, Coccyzus americanus occidentalis, Cuculus americanus, Cuculus carolinensis
Other names and names in other languages (64)
- California yellow-billed cuckooEnglish
- Eastern yellow-billed cuckooEnglish
- Rain crowEnglish
- Western yellow-billed cuckooEnglish
- وقواق أصفر المنقارArabic
- Жълтоклюна кукувицаBulgarian
- Жълтоклюна американска кукувицаBulgarian
- Koukoug beg melenBreton
- cucut becgrocCatalan
- ᏓᎶᎬCherokee
- kukačka dešťováCzech
- cog bigfelenWelsh
- Cogau PigfelynWelsh
- gulnæbbet gøgDanish
- GelbschnabelkuckuckGerman
- flavbeka kukoloEsperanto
- Cuco americanoSpanish
- Cuclillo de Pico AmarilloSpanish
- Cuclillo pico amarilloSpanish
- Cuclillo piquigualdoSpanish
- Pájaro Bobo Pico AmarilloSpanish
- Pájaro bobo piquiamarilloSpanish
- vihmakäguEstonian
- Kuku mokohoriBasque
- amerikankäkiFinnish
- GrágeykurFaroese
- coulicou à bec jauneFrench
- caoulicou à bec jauneFrench
- Cuach ghob-bhuíIrish
- Cooag ghob-buighManx
- קוליקוHebrew
- קוקיה צהובת-מקורHebrew
- žutokljuna kukavicaCroatian
- sárgacsőrű esőkakukkHungarian
- SpágaukurIcelandic
- Cuculo americanoItalian
- Coccyzus americanusItalian
- cuculo beccogialloItalian
- キバシカッコウJapanese
- geltonsnapė amerikinė gegutėLithuanian
- dzeltenknābja dzeguzeLatvian
- gulnebbgjøkNorwegian Bokmål
- geelsnavelkoekoekDutch
- gulnebbgaukNorwegian Nynorsk
- Kuku Pik HelPapiamento
- Cucu Pico HelPapiamento
- kukawik żółtodziobyPolish
- cuco-d'asa-vermelhaPortuguese
- papa-lagarta-de-asa-vermelhaPortuguese
- Papa-lagarta-norte-americanoPortuguese
- Желтоклювая пиайяRussian
- желтоклювая американская кукушкаRussian
- FiskesnjungiehkaNorthern Sami
- kukavka dažďováSlovak
- rumenokljuni kukavecSlovenian
- Žutokljuna američka kukavicaSerbian
- gulnäbbad regngökSwedish
- sarı gagalı gugukTurkish
- Ӵуж ныро кикыUdmurt
- кукліло північнийUkrainian
- Жовтодзьоба зозуляUkrainian
- Зозуля жовтодзьобаUkrainian
- 黃嘴美洲鵑Chinese
- 黄嘴美洲鹃Chinese
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List
Relatives of the yellow-billed cuckoo
Other species in the same genus Coccyzus.
Black-billed cuckoo
Coccyzus erythropthalmus
Dark-billed cuckoo
Coccyzus melacoryphus
Great lizard cuckoo
Coccyzus merlini
Mangrove cuckoo
Coccyzus minor
Jamaican lizard cuckoo
Coccyzus vetula
Cocos cuckoo
Coccyzus ferrugineus
CompareYellow-billed cuckoo vs Black-billed cuckooYellow-billed cuckoo vs Dark-billed cuckooYellow-billed cuckoo vs Great lizard cuckooYellow-billed cuckoo vs Mangrove cuckoo
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the yellow-billed cuckoo?
An adult yellow-billed cuckoo weighs 59.7 g – 64 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
Is the yellow-billed cuckoo endangered?
The yellow-billed cuckoo is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.
How long does the yellow-billed cuckoo live?
The yellow-billed cuckoo has a recorded lifespan of 5 years.
What kind of animal is the yellow-billed cuckoo?
The yellow-billed cuckoo (Coccyzus americanus) belongs to the family Cuculidae in the order Cuculiformes.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds · CC BY 4.0 · v7
Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Yellow-billed cuckoo (Coccyzus americanus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/yellow-billed-cuckoo
“Yellow-billed cuckoo (Coccyzus americanus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/yellow-billed-cuckoo.
@misc{yellow_billed_cuckoo_2026,
title = {Yellow-billed cuckoo (Coccyzus americanus)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/yellow-billed-cuckoo},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}