Going Cuckoo

[David Coulter]

#2915

I’ve been hearing this call in the woods for years now and have not been able to spot the source. With some hints and emails to a naturalist friend, who now lives in Florida, I tracked down this recording. Still haven’t seen the critter, but at least I’m a little less cuckoo over it. Some of you are probably very familiar with this one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BrfLVIXZMdI

best, dwc

[Stephen Graf]

#14699

Here’s another one that is a stumper…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iI6TGKqdOmE

I had the cuckoo and the dove confused for most of my life. Sometime before my 10th birthday, an old farmer told me it was a rain crow, when in fact it was the dove.

[David Coulter]

#14838

The Mourning Dove was an easy one for me because they were cooing outside my window everyday as a kid. I always thought they were a town bird, because I lived just outside of town, but we have them here out in the woods, too. Heard a few this morning. Thanks for sharing that link. It really shows how they breath when they call. best, dwc

[David Coulter]

#14879

Steve, just read something that folk names for the Yellow-Billed Cuckoo in the south are Rain Crow and Storm Crow for their habit of calling on hot afternoons, often before a change in the weather. Neat. dwc

[William Warren]

#15161

Yep its the rain crow down here. I heard the first one of the summer last week. They feed on the various worms that live in the hardwoods. I also noticed a few large worms crawling in the yard probably looking a spot to make a cocoon. The cuckoos are migratory. They are quite hard to spot usually working the high canopy. I usually get to see several each summer when they visit the hickories and red oaks next to my house.

[David Coulter]

#15294

I love that name, rain crow. Neat bird. Thanks, dwc

[paleoman]

#15309

Nice little victory in finding out what it was! Don’t believe I’ve ever heard one. I’ve lived in New England and Michigan and I wonder if that’s out of their range? Something to check out now…

[Brennan Herr]

#15508

Paleman….those areas are in their summer range. They go all the way up to Canada for the summer.

[drew4fur]

#22741

It was also locally known as the Rain Crow where I grew up in Missouri. I heard them for years before I figured out how to spot one, the often call from the densest part of the tree.

[Don Thomas]

#22901

According to the books, the home range of the yellow-billed is virtually the entire Lower-48, while the black-billed inhabits almost all the states east of the Rockies. I find this interesting, because I have been paying a lot of attention to birds my whole life and have never seen either. Don

[David Coulter]

#27640

Don,

One time I was in central PA sitting on a porch bird watching. The property owner said he didn’t see many birds around his place. In one afternoon we counted about 30 species, including a cuckoo. That was the first and only one I can say I’ve seen. If I’ve seen others, I didn’t know it. Funny thing, I haven’t heard one since I was able to ID it. Before that I heard them here and there around the area. Nice to have a little mystery. best, david

[William Warren]

#32100

The best place to see a rain crow is from a reclining lawn chair in my yard with a cool beverage in hand. Tip it back and keep an eye on the treetops.

[David Coulter]

#32679

Be careful. You might have a bunch of “birdwatchers ” come clean out your frig. Dwc

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