Yellow-billed Cuckoo

Feeds:: Posts; Comments

Yellow-billed Cuckoo

September 30, 2013 by Mike Powell

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.

Posted in Art, Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife | Tagged Alexandria VA, autumn, Canon 50D, Canon 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens, Coccyzus americanus, cuckoo, fall, Huntley Meadows Park, Yellow-billed Cuckoo | 13 Comments

13 Responses

on September 30, 2013 at 9:19 pm | Reply Joe Schelling

Nice shot, Mike! One doesn’t get to see those guys very often anywhere, and always tough getting a good look at them.
- on September 30, 2013 at 9:25 pm | Reply Mike Powell
  
  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.
on September 30, 2013 at 11:34 pm | Reply uthamz

Cute bird , Mike !
Nice shot !

utham
- on October 1, 2013 at 5:26 am | Reply Mike Powell
  
  Thanks. Now that I am starting to pay more attention to birds, I am seeing new ones more and more.
on October 1, 2013 at 2:45 am | Reply Mona

Lovely photo……
on October 1, 2013 at 4:33 am | Reply afrenchgarden

I really like all that different coloured foliage behind the cuckoo. It makes it a really special capture.
- on October 1, 2013 at 5:26 am | Reply Mike Powell
  
  Thanks. It was really cool to be able to capture both the foliage and the bird in a single shot.
on October 1, 2013 at 6:25 am | Reply New Hampshire Gardener

This is one I’ve never seen. I think the foliage adds a lot to the photo.
- on October 1, 2013 at 6:30 am | Reply Mike Powell
  
  Thanks. It’s cool to get the foliage in a way that doesn’t hide hide the bird.
on October 1, 2013 at 7:55 am | Reply Sue

Great shot, Mike. And I do like the fall foliage background,
on November 11, 2013 at 2:47 pm | Reply Tapera naevia | All Birds Blog

[…] Yellow-billed Cuckoo (michaelqpowell.wordpress.com) […]
on October 14, 2018 at 3:03 am | Reply exploringcolour

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! 🙂
- on October 14, 2018 at 3:35 am | Reply Mike Powell
  
  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. 🙂