Date: 5/15/25 5:00 am From: William Flack via groups.io <sparvophile...> Subject: [NEBirds] Black-billed Cuckoo in Cuming County
Pleased to report a sighting of a Black-billed Cuckoo yesterday about noon (May 14) at the riverside park in Wisner.
I found the bird in the woods downstream of the developed portion of the park. It was perched high on a bare branch, with no foliage to obstruct the view. I was looking more or less eastward, so was seeing the shaded side of the bird. I had a profile view, so was looking at the tail side-on and couldn't see undertail pattern at all. The bird stayed in place for about a minute, during which I studied it, focusing on the bill and the folded wing. The bill always appeared dark; although I was seeing the shaded side, I think I'd have seen the yellow on a Yellow-billed Cuckoo. The folded wing looked uniformly brown, with none of the rufous that I'd expect to see in a Yellow-bill's wing. There were no vocalizations that I could hear. When the bird flew, it almost immediately vanished in the canopy, so I was never able to see the open wing.
According to Ross's reports in the spring and summer editions of Nebraska Bird Review—and thanks to Ross for compiling those!—we had a good year for Black-bills in 2024. Hopefully, this will be another...
