The last time I saw a yellow-billed cuckoo was many years ago when I lived in Clearfield County, Pennsylvania. I was a fledgling birder out with a few experts who were conducting a bird count. One of the birders identified the call of the yellow-billed cuckoo, who was quickly spotted. And we all focused our binoculars on the sleek, graceful bird known for eating the “hairy” caterpillars unappetizing to most birds. Knowing little at the time on the populations of birds generally, I imagined that cuckoos were rare, exotic birds and counted myself lucky to have seen one.
Since then, I’ve not seen or heard another cuckoo . . . until two weeks ago. And it took me some seconds to translate his image into one I recognized from so many years before. Wow! I thought—and hurrying home checked the web site of the Pennsylvania Society of Ornithology (pabirds.org) to check on the status of this bird. I was amazed to find that the yellow-billed cuckoo is a “fairly common” breeder (summer resident) and migrant of not only Adams County but the entire state. Who knew? Certainly not me.
I believe that you can’t see what you’re not looking for. In other words, because I never expected to see another cuckoo, I never did. But on October 6, 2021, I saw one! And perhaps both my eyes and mind opened to their reality because, just six days ago, I saw another.
This second sighting was on (in) Marsh Creek, where I take my two dogs for
creek-walking and swimming. This yellow-billed cuckoo allowed me a good, long look, so long that I almost—almost—got my camera in position to take a photo. But at the critical moment, my two dogs came splashing up the creek and scared him or her off. So, I offer you these two beautiful public domain images, one from wildlife painter and illustrator Robert Bruce Horsfall (1869-1948) and one a public domain photo. Oddly enough, “my” cuckoo was similarly posed as in the illustration. I clearly saw his yellow bill, cinnamon “wash” of his wings, and the conspicuous yellow circles of his tail.
Here’s hoping that next time, I’ll hear his or her distinctive song or calls. Listen to them at allaboutbirds.org. Finally, if you love birds and want to read a middle-grade trilogy about an adolescent girl with a mystical tie to birds, then check out my web site:
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