Yellow-billed Cuckoo
Yellow-billed Cuckoo has declined: down 40% on the route-weighted index since 1968.
About the Yellow-billed Cuckoo
The Yellow-billed Cuckoo (Coccyzus americanus) is a North American member of the Cuckoos, Roadrunners & Anis (Cuculidae). In this analysis it is grouped with the forest birds.
- Size
- 10.5–22 in long (27–56 cm) — a slender, long-tailed bird (typical for the family)
- Habitat
- Woodlands and forest edges, including wooded suburbs and parks.
- Diet
- Insects and spiders gleaned from foliage and bark, with seeds and berries in season.
- Range
- Recorded on 2,591 Breeding Bird Survey routes across 46 states, most concentrated in the Appalachian Mountains.
- Family
- Cuculidae · Forest birds
Notable Yellow-billed Cuckoo Trends
No notable trend signals for Yellow-billed Cuckoo. See the full index history below.
Yellow-billed Cuckoo Population Forecast
If the recent trend holds, Yellow-billed Cuckoo is projected to fall about 27% by 2029 — from 2.1 in 2024 to a central estimate of 1.5 (95% range 0.47–2.6). A 5-year backtest shows a typical error of ±25.2%, with 100% of held-out values landing inside the 95% band.
| Year | Projected index | 95% low | 95% high |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 1.7 | 0.62 | 2.7 |
| 2026 | 1.6 | 0.58 | 2.7 |
| 2027 | 1.6 | 0.55 | 2.6 |
| 2028 | 1.6 | 0.51 | 2.6 |
| 2029 | 1.5 | 0.47 | 2.6 |
Where the Yellow-billed Cuckoo Is Detected
BBS routes recording Yellow-billed Cuckoo, sized by most recent count.
Yellow-billed Cuckoo Population Trend by State
| Alabama | -8% | 1968 | 108 |
| Arizona | -67% | 1971 | 7 |
| Arkansas | -21% | 1969 | 62 |
| California | insufficient data | n/a | 1 |
| Colorado | -77% | 1981 | 14 |
| Connecticut | -72% | 1968 | 20 |
| Delaware | +152% | 1968 | 17 |
| Florida | -48% | 1968 | 114 |
| Georgia | -22% | 1968 | 110 |
| Idaho | insufficient data | n/a | 1 |
| Illinois | -29% | 1968 | 100 |
| Indiana | -78% | 1968 | 63 |
| Iowa | -71% | 1969 | 39 |
| Kansas | -1% | 1969 | 63 |
| Kentucky | -50% | 1968 | 64 |
| Louisiana | +4% | 1969 | 99 |
| Maine | +96% | 1978 | 18 |
| Maryland | -14% | 1968 | 76 |
| Massachusetts | +123% | 1969 | 28 |
| Michigan | +54% | 1968 | 84 |
| Minnesota | -57% | 1969 | 62 |
| Mississippi | +109% | 1968 | 74 |
| Missouri | -22% | 1969 | 95 |
| Montana | insufficient data | n/a | 3 |
| Nebraska | -24% | 1969 | 54 |
| Nevada | insufficient data | n/a | 1 |
| New Hampshire | +134% | 1968 | 17 |
| New Jersey | -3% | 1968 | 43 |
| New Mexico | -91% | 1970 | 20 |
| New York | +24% | 1968 | 108 |
| North Carolina | -20% | 1968 | 106 |
| North Dakota | insufficient data | n/a | 2 |
| Ohio | +31% | 1968 | 89 |
| Oklahoma | -26% | 1969 | 70 |
| Pennsylvania | +49% | 1968 | 134 |
| Rhode Island | +173% | 1973 | 4 |
| South Carolina | -23% | 1968 | 51 |
| South Dakota | -36% | 1969 | 35 |
| Tennessee | -34% | 1968 | 55 |
| Texas | -49% | 1969 | 216 |
| Utah | insufficient data | n/a | 1 |
| Vermont | -27% | 1980 | 11 |
| Virginia | -15% | 1968 | 85 |
| West Virginia | -44% | 1968 | 62 |
| Wisconsin | -11% | 1968 | 95 |
| Wyoming | -77% | 1980 | 10 |
Yellow-billed Cuckoo Population Trend by Region
Bird Conservation Regions are the ecological unit for trends.
| Prairie Potholes | -74% | 1969 | 53 |
| Boreal Hardwood Transition | -16% | 1968 | 85 |
| Lower Great Lakes / St. Lawrence Plain | +21% | 1968 | 78 |
| Atlantic Northern Forest | +307% | 1969 | 57 |
| Badlands and Prairies | -62% | 1970 | 27 |
| Shortgrass Prairie | -84% | 1970 | 53 |
| Central Mixed Grass Prairie | -19% | 1969 | 120 |
| Edwards Plateau | -55% | 1969 | 20 |
| Oaks and Prairies | -36% | 1969 | 74 |
| Eastern Tallgrass Prairie | -25% | 1968 | 269 |
| Prairie Hardwood Transition | +2% | 1968 | 151 |
| Central Hardwoods | -48% | 1968 | 166 |
| West Gulf Coastal Plain / Ouachitas | -27% | 1969 | 110 |
| Mississippi Alluvial Valley | +16% | 1968 | 73 |
| Southeastern Coastal Plain | +5% | 1968 | 343 |
| Appalachian Mountains | -16% | 1968 | 393 |
| Piedmont | +4% | 1968 | 167 |
| New England / Mid-Atlantic Coast | -26% | 1968 | 160 |
| Peninsular Florida | -87% | 1968 | 71 |
| Sierra Madre Occidental | -79% | 1971 | 6 |
| Chihuahuan Desert | -86% | 1970 | 27 |
| Tamaulipan Brushlands | +16% | 1969 | 27 |
| Gulf Coastal Prairie | -21% | 1969 | 46 |
Yellow-billed Cuckoo Conservation Status
Our route-weighted index shows it down about 40% since 1968.
Source: USGS North American Breeding Bird Survey, retrieved 2026-05-22. Trend is a route-weighted relative-abundance index, not an absolute population.