When a scope-toting birder told me that there was a cuckoo in a tree in the distance, I had not idea what to look for. My parents had a German cuckoo clock when I was growing up and somehow I thought the cuckoo would look like the little bird that popped out of the clock each hour.
I could see the white breast of the bird, so I pointed my telephoto lens at the tree and focused as well as I could. I had to crop quite a bit, but the bird I photographed is definitely identifiable as a Yellow-billed Cuckoo (Coccyzus americanus). What shocked me the most was the length of the bird’s tail. According to my birding guide, this cuckoo is about 12 inches (30 cm) in length.
According to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, these birds like to eat large quantities of hairy caterpillars. Those readers who follow my blog know well that there have been lots of hairy caterpillars recently at my local marsh, so it makes a lot of sense that these birds would be present.
The background in the image is cluttered, but I like the bright colors of the autumn leaves, so I am not bothered by it, particularly because they do not conceal very much of the cuckoo.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved
Nice shot, Mike! One doesn’t get to see those guys very often anywhere, and always tough getting a good look at them.
Thanks, Joe. There is no way that I would have spotted it on my own. It was sure nice having an experienced birder standing next to me pointing out the birds.
Cute bird , Mike !
Nice shot !
utham
Thanks. Now that I am starting to pay more attention to birds, I am seeing new ones more and more.
Lovely photo……
I really like all that different coloured foliage behind the cuckoo. It makes it a really special capture.
Thanks. It was really cool to be able to capture both the foliage and the bird in a single shot.
This is one I’ve never seen. I think the foliage adds a lot to the photo.
Thanks. It’s cool to get the foliage in a way that doesn’t hide hide the bird.
Great shot, Mike. And I do like the fall foliage background,
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Wow, taken 5 years ago and what a lovely photo it is! Love the bright red and yellow leaves and how the bird’s bill has much the same yellow as the yellow leaf. Beautiful photo! 🙂
I like the way that WordPress links to similar postings, so when I posted an image of a cuckoo today it gave a link to that posting from five years ago. I am often so focused on getting new photos that I forget that I have taken so many good ones in the past. 🙂