Greg Peterson photographed this Yellow-billed Cuckoo on Aruba in January 2009. It is white below, gray above and has patches of rufous on its wings, yellow around its eyes and of course yellow on its bill. This cuckoo is a visitor from the North, numerous on Aruba, but rare in Suriname. In Suriname it has mainly been seen on its way back from the south of South-America in April, May and June. Only two birds were seen during the autumn migration that stays west of Suriname. Of the twenty plus observations in Suriname only 4 were made after 1980 and all but one were made near the coast. This last one was seen by Ed Hubert s.m.a. in May 2008 along the upper Suriname river. In North America the bird has declined in numbers, what may be a reason for its rareness now in Suriname. One year, in the spring of 1972 it was found to be common in the mangroves around Matapica, according to G.F. Mees and A.L. Spaans. Michel Giraud-Audine saw the bird below in April 2010 in French Guyana.
Names in:
Photos of other cuckoos and doves and parrots from Suriname
*