Yellow-billed Cuckoo
Yellow-billed CuckooYellow-billed CuckooYellow-billed CuckooYellow-billed Cuckoo

Yellow-billed Cuckoo

Coccyzus americanus

Least ConcernNear ThreatenedVulnerableEndangeredCritically Endangered
Daily sighting probability <5% · Rare
at Saguaro National Park
51 Verified sightings at Saguaro National Park From 2019 to 2026
4,108 Verified sightings across all 60 parks From 2019 to 2026
June Best month highest sighting rate
☀️ Diurnal When it's spotted during daytime hours (6am–6pm)

About the Yellow-billed Cuckoo

The yellow-billed cuckoo (Coccyzus americanus) is a member of the cuckoo family. Common folk names for this bird in the southern United States are rain crow and storm crow. These likely refer to the bird's habit of calling on hot days, often presaging rain showers or thunderstorms. The genus name is from the Ancient Greek kokkuzo, which means to call like a common cuckoo, and americanus means "of America".

The yellow-billed cuckoo was formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae. He placed it with all the other cuckoos in the genus Cuculus and coined the binomial name Cuculus americanus. Linnaeus based his description on the "Cuckow of Carolina" that had been described and illustrated in 1729–1732 by the English naturalist Mark Catesby in his The Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands. The yellow-billed cuckoo is now placed with 12 other species in the genus Coccyzus that was introduced in 1816 by the French ornithologist Louis Pierre Vieillot. The genus name is from the Ancient Greek kokkuzō meaning "to cry cuckoo". The species is monotypic: no subspecies are recognised. Wikipedia →

Closest Relatives at Saguaro National Park

Greater Roadrunner
LC

Greater Roadrunner

☀️ Diurnal Bird

Geococcyx californianus

Daily sighting probability ~20% · Possible

Global Distribution

Where this species is recorded worldwide. Restricted to human observations from 2019 onwards — the same kind of record and the same period the probabilities on this page are built from, so collar-tracking studies, camera-trap arrays and museum specimens are excluded. Around Santa Rosa that removes 5,924 GPS fixes from a handful of tagged jaguars.

where this species is recorded (GBIF density — it tracks where observers go, not how likely a sighting is)  ·  parks where it occurs — tap a pin for the sighting probability there

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability
1 Congaree National Park 🇺🇸 United States
~30%
2 Shenandoah National Park 🇺🇸 United States
~10%
3 Point Pelee National Park 🇨🇦 Canada
~10%
4 El Impenetrable National Park 🇦🇷 Argentina
<5%
5 Parque Natural Metropolitano 🇵🇦 Panama
<5%
6 Great Smoky Mountains National Park 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
7 Big Cypress National Preserve 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
8 Arrecifes de Cozumel National Park 🇲🇽 Mexico
<5%
9 Big Bend National Park 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
10 Soberanía National Park 🇵🇦 Panama
<5%
11 Everglades National Park 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
12 Henri Pittier National Park 🇻🇪 Venezuela
<5%
13 Calakmul Biosphere Reserve 🇲🇽 Mexico
<5%
14 Pico Bonito National Park 🇭🇳 Honduras
<5%
15 Los Haitises National Park 🇩🇴 Dominican Republic
<5%
16 Tayrona National Natural Park 🇨🇴 Colombia
<5%
17 Montes Azules Biosphere Reserve 🇲🇽 Mexico
<5%
18 Tortuguero National Park 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
<5%
19 Darién National Park 🇵🇦 Panama
<5%
20 Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve 🇲🇽 Mexico
<5%
21 Madidi National Park 🇧🇴 Bolivia
<5%
22 Bastimentos Island National Marine Park 🇵🇦 Panama
<5%
23 Badlands National Park 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
24 Celestún Biosphere Reserve 🇲🇽 Mexico
<5%
25 Chingaza National Natural Park 🇨🇴 Colombia
<5%
26 La Amistad International Park (Panama) 🇵🇦 Panama
<5%
27 Ciénaga de Zapata 🇨🇺 Cuba
<5%
28 Acadia National Park 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
29 Tambopata National Reserve 🇵🇪 Peru
<5%
30 Braulio Carrillo National Park 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
<5%
31 Tapantí-Macizo de la Muerte National Park 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
<5%
32 Saguaro National Park 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
33 Volcán Barú National Park 🇵🇦 Panama
Insufficient data
34 Amboró National Park 🇧🇴 Bolivia
Insufficient data
35 Biotopo Cerro Cahuí 🇬🇹 Guatemala
Insufficient data
36 Amacayacu National Natural Park 🇨🇴 Colombia
Insufficient data
37 Serra da Canastra National Park 🇧🇷 Brazil
Insufficient data
38 Cahuita National Park 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
Insufficient data
39 Machalilla National Park 🇪🇨 Ecuador
Insufficient data
40 Ría Lagartos Biosphere Reserve 🇲🇽 Mexico
Insufficient data
41 Cabo Blanco Absolute Nature Reserve 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
Insufficient data
42 Cañón del Sumidero National Park 🇲🇽 Mexico
Insufficient data
43 Main Ridge Forest Reserve 🇹🇹 Trinidad and Tobago
Insufficient data
44 Tikal National Park 🇬🇹 Guatemala
Insufficient data
45 Cerro Azul Meámbar National Park 🇭🇳 Honduras
Insufficient data
46 Lago de Yojoa 🇭🇳 Honduras
Insufficient data
47 Palo Verde National Park 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
Insufficient data
48 Ostional Wildlife Refuge 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
Insufficient data
49 Piedras Blancas National Park 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
Insufficient data
50 Puracé National Natural Park 🇨🇴 Colombia
Insufficient data
51 Gandoca-Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
Insufficient data
52 Iguazú National Park 🇦🇷 Argentina
Insufficient data
53 Los Nevados National Natural Park 🇨🇴 Colombia
Insufficient data
54 Chirripó National Park 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
Insufficient data
55 Carara National Park 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
Insufficient data
56 Corcovado National Park 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
Insufficient data
57 Parque Estadual Encontro das Águas 🇧🇷 Brazil
Insufficient data
58 Iguaçu National Park 🇧🇷 Brazil
Insufficient data
59 Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks 🇺🇸 United States
Insufficient data
60 Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
Insufficient data

Quick answers

What are the chances of seeing a Yellow-billed Cuckoo in Saguaro National Park?

Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Yellow-billed Cuckoo sighting in Saguaro National Park, based on 51 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data.

When is the best time to see Yellow-billed Cuckoo in Saguaro National Park?

June has the highest sighting rate for Yellow-billed Cuckoo in Saguaro National Park in our monthly data.

← Back to Saguaro National Park