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 TrendsNotable signalsLong-arc shifts the engine flags automatically — sustained declines or increases large enough to stand out from year-to-year noise.Full methodology →
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.
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
Yellow-billed Cuckoo Population Trend by Region
Bird Conservation Regions are the ecological unit for trends.
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.