Black-billed Cuckoo? I know you are aware of how rare this would be for Oregon
but these birds often don’t head south until late August and September so
timing is right. I know that they range as far west as southern Alberta and
even some records for British Columbia exist. I believe there are scattered
records for Idaho, Colorado and Utah and even California as potential migrants.
It appears that some birds move west before heading to South America, so
anything’s possible. Calling now would be somewhat unusual, however. These
birds are apparently almost entirely silent during migration and on winter
grounds. Along with their very secretive habits, this makes them hard to track
down. In their range, they are often confused with Yellow-billed Cuckoo but
tend to stay in more coniferous habitats. Populations of this species declined
greatly in the late 1980s-1990s. Just a few years ago I met a bander at a
research station in Pennsylvania. He was very excited to have just caught a
Black-billed Cuckoo as we arrived because he very seldom sees them now. This
was the first Black-billed Cuckoo he had banded in recent years.
Dan Gleason
Owner, Wild Birds Unlimited of Eugene
Ornithology Instructor, retired, University of Oregon
dan-gleason@xxxxxxxxxxx
(Please forgive my typos. I beat leukemia but the intense chemo was very, very
hard on my eyes.)
On Sep 2, 2021, at 1:24 PM, Thomas Love <tlove@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
I had a great morning in southern Curry County yesterday before the NNW winds
started picking up late morning (rocking my parked car) and shut me down. The
BROWN BOOBY continues on the orange-flagged buoy/tower from the (temporarily
closed) BLM boat launch.
In Curry, the ocean at Harbor was very generous, including a flyover
BOBOLINK. What I wanted ro report, however, was a two note call at the
parking area for the Bradley Lake dock that was (fasten seat belts) a dead
ringer for BLACK-BILLED CUCKOO. I played tapes and hung around for 5+ minutes
with zero response. Right tone quality, pitch, loudness. Like this:
https://www.xeno-canto.org/658514. I can't imagine what else it might have
been. Perhaps someone local might follow up.
Tom
