I photographed a nesting pair of Yellow-billed Cuckoos this spring (during my recovery from throid surgery). The images were obtained without disturbing the birds, and they fledged two chicks. The first chick hatched between 6/6 and 6/7 and the second chick appeared on the morning of June 8. A third chick hatched a few days later, but it did not survive to fledge. The nest of the Yellow-billed Cuckoo is a flimsy-looking affair, that looks as if it will fall apart any second, but it is sufficient for the job. According to several sources, the male and female take turns on the nest during the day, and the male sits on the eggs at night. The male always brings a twig to the nest when he visits. The female will take the twig and use it to expand the nest. I was lucky enough to observe this behavior as I sat in a folding chair about 30 feet the nest shrub!

Why this pair picked a 5ft high crab apple in my backyard to nest in, I'm not sure. We did have an outbreak of gypsy moth in our area this year and various sources of literature report tent caterpillars as one of the food sources of the cuckoo. However, I'm not so sure they eat the larvae of the Gypsy Moth. I saw evidence of this the evening of June 11, as my wife pointed out to me that nearly half of the foliage on the nest shrub had been eaten. The shrub was infested with large and small gypsy moth caterpillars. In an attempt to save some of the foliage while the young were still in the nest, I removed about 50-70 caterpillars as the chicks either slept, or kept a watchful eye on me (the adults were out foraging for food at the time). Now that the chicks have fledged, I do not see them as often, but they are still in the neighborhood, and have been heard calling from the trees in our backyard. I'm hoping they will return next year! Please enjoy these few qlimpses into the life of the Yellow-billed Cuckoo!