<\/p>\nThe Yellow-billed Cuckoo has been my nemesis bird for a while now. Although it breeds in New York City, and although it is regularly reported in city parks, I have never had an unambiguous look at one. That chyanged this morning. I had joined Steve and Heidi Nanz, Rob Jett, Janet Schumacher, Suzanne Ortiz, and several others for a continuing breeding bird census at Ridgewood Reservoir. This was the third of a planned six visits to the site this season.
\nWe parked the cars across Vermont Place from the reservoir. A pair of male Baltimore Orioles were obvious in a nearby tree. However the census doesn’t start till we cross the street. No sooner had we done so, than Rob called out “Yellow-billed Cuckoo!” It was high up in the trees, and moving; but it didn’t fly too far away; and eventually I was able to get a clear look at it. I<\/p>\n
I’m afraid this is the best picture of the bird I got, and you really can’t identify it from this:<\/p>\n
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It did not pose for my photographs, I’m afraid. I have several other photos of the branch it just left, but it was clearly ID’able through binoculars. It was obviously a cuckoo, had a prominent slightly curved yellow bill, and large white spots on the underside of the tail. The Black-billed Cuckoo, the only other cuckoo in the area, has a black bill and small white spots on the underside of the tail.
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