Listen to the Yellow-billed cuckoo
Tip: press play to see the sound's live frequency spectrum in blue over the waveform.
About the Yellow-billed cuckoo
The Yellow-billed cuckoo is a bird in the family Cuculidae (order Cuculiformes). Its conservation status on the IUCN Red List is “least concern”.
What does the Yellow-billed cuckoo sound like?
Bird vocalisations are usually divided into songs – longer, often complex phrases used to defend territory and attract mates, sung mostly by males in the breeding season – and calls: short, simple sounds for contact, alarm, begging or flight.
The recordings here are labelled as call. Listen for differences in rhythm, pitch and repetition – the spectrum display makes it easy to see whether a sound is a pure whistle (a thin line), a harsh call (a broad band) or a trill (rapid repeated marks).
From Wikipedia
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".
More from the family Cuculidae
Common cuckoo
Cuculus canorus
Great spotted cuckoo
Clamator glandarius
Greater coucal
Centropus sinensis
Common hawk-cuckoo
Hierococcyx varius
Indian cuckoo
Cuculus micropterus
Lesser coucal
Centropus bengalensis
Guira cuckoo
Guira guira
Sirkeer malkoha
Taccocua leschenaultii
Large hawk-cuckoo
Hierococcyx sparverioides
African cuckoo
Cuculus gularis
Klaas's cuckoo
Chrysococcyx klaas
Black cuckoo
Cuculus clamosus
Frequently asked questions
What does a Yellow-billed cuckoo sound like?
You can hear 1 recording of the Yellow-billed cuckoo on this page, including its call. Bird vocalisations are usually divided into songs – longer, often complex phrases used to defend territory and attract mates, sung mostly by males in the breeding season – and calls: short, simple sounds for contact, alarm, begging or flight.
Is the Yellow-billed cuckoo endangered?
The IUCN Red List classifies the Yellow-billed cuckoo as “least concern”.
What family does the Yellow-billed cuckoo belong to?
The Yellow-billed cuckoo (Coccyzus americanus) belongs to the family Cuculidae in the order Cuculiformes.
Sources & credits
- Call · Nerstrand Big Woods SP, Rice, Minnesota, United States by Jonathon Jongsma – CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
- Wikidata Q852265 – CC0
- Wikipedia: Yellow-billed cuckoo – CC BY-SA 4.0
- Photo by Rhododendrites – CC BY-SA 4.0