Yellow-billed cuckoo

Yellow-billed cuckoos move slowly and quietly through dense leaves, pausing to look for caterpillars. When caterpillar outbreaks happen, they gather to feed on them and may lay more eggs.

Unlike the European cuckoo, they usually raise their own young, though they sometimes lay eggs in other birds' nests.

Yellow-billed cuckoos eat the hairy tent caterpillars and spongy moth caterpillars that most birds avoid. They periodically shed the lining of their stomachs to get rid of the hairs that collect there. Their numbers rise and fall with caterpillar outbreaks, making them a natural check on forest pests.

Nest — A flimsy platform of twigs in a shrub or tree
Eggs — Usually two to four
Incubation — About 9 to 11 days, one of the shortest of any bird
Nestlings — Grow very fast and climb out of the nest at about 7 to 9 days
Flight — About three weeks after hatching
Lifespan — A few years

• Spraying woods and gardens for caterpillars removes their main food.
• Cuckoos often hit windows during migration.

• All cuckoos lay their eggs in other birds' nests. North American cuckoos usually raise their own young.
• The "rain crow" really predicts rain. It calls often on hot, humid days before storms, but it calls in dry weather too.

• Black-billed cuckoo
• Mourning dove