Mangrove cuckoo!

We banded our first ever Mangrove cuckoo at CFBS on Sept 2. We band several Yellow-billed cuckoos a season and have banded two Black-billed cuckoos over the years, so it was a treat to catch the third species.  Mangrove cuckoos are common throughout the Caribbean and fairly common in south Florida and the Keys. They do not currently breed at BBCFSP, but post-breeding wanderers or migrants can be seen every September; in fact we saw another one today.

The mangrove cuckoo’s distinguishing characteristics include warm buffy underparts and a distinct mask around the eyes. The lower part of the bill is yellow, like the Yellow-billed cuckoo, but there is no rufous in the wings. These birds are generally found in mangroves, as their name would suggest, although they can be in other forested habitats in the islands.

For comparison, below is a Yellow-billed cuckoo banded on Oct 5 2014. The yellow in the bill is more extensive, the underparts are white and the rufous flight feathers are diagnostic. This is the most commonly encountered species of cuckoo in south Florida; they breed on tree islands in Everglades National Park and are widespread in migration. Cuckoos can be hard to observe as they tend to sit motionless in thick vegetation after landing.

The third North American cuckoo is very rare in south Florida. The Black-billed cuckoo can be told by a reddish eye ring (Yellowbill and mangrove have yellow or dark eye rings), a completely gray-black bill and a lack of rufous in the wings. They are also slightly smaller than the other two species, and the white tips to the tail feathers are not as prominent. This bird was banded on Sept 23 2012.

The cuckoo family, Cuculidae, also contains the Roadrunner and the notorious brood parasite cuckoos of the Old World. These three North American cuckoos do not lay their eggs in other bird’s nests and rear their own young in the manner of typical birds.