 Breeding evidence |
 Relative abundance |
 Probability of observation |
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Click on plot to view table of mean abundance
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Number of squares
Long-term BBS trends
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-2.01 (-3.54 - -0.663)|
Mean abundance (number of birds detected per 5 min. point count) and percentage of squares occupied by region Bird Conservation Regions [abund. plot]
[%squares plot]
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Atlas Results
Black-billed Cuckoos were found in 94 squares, spread thinly across the southern half of the province and declining from east to west. Secretive and retiring by nature, breeding was confirmed in only two atlas squares. Black-billed Cuckoos became increasingly rare during the atlas years, coinciding with the end of the most recent forest tent caterpillar outbreak, which lasted from 2013 to 2019. Detections were highest in 2017 and 2018 (49 and 46 detections respectively) and remained low from 2019 to 2021 (12, 10 and 14 detections respectively).
Excerpts Adapted from the Birds of Saskatchewan:
The Black-billed Cuckoo is also known as a "Rain Crow? because it tends to increase its calls preceding periods of rain. The Black-billed Cuckoo breeds from central Alberta to the Maritimes south to northeast Oklahoma and southeast Virginia; its poorly known winter range lies in northwestern South America.
Black-billed Cuckoos are found in all types of wooded areas as long as there are dense shrubs for nesting; these include aspen groves with brushy margins, overgrown pastures, coulees, and farmsteads. Near Asquith it avoided aspen groves less than 1 ha in area (Johns 1993b).
Smith (1996) described the species as "a fairly common summer resident well into the Southern Boreal Forest (Sled and Jan Lakes),? with a "marked decline in abundance from east to west.? Its numbers fluctuate with outbreaks of tent caterpillars.
Original text by Gregory P. Kratzig. Text adapted by Daniel J. Sawatzky
Read more about the Black-billed Cuckoo in the Birds of Saskatchewan here.
Recommended citation: Latremouille, L. M. 2025. Black-billed Cuckoo in Latremouille, L. M., S. L. Van Wilgenburg, C. B. Jardine, D. Lepage, A. R. Couturier, D. Evans, D. Iles, and K. L. Drake (eds.). 2025. The Atlas of the Breeding Birds of Saskatchewan, 2017-2021. Birds Canada. Saskatoon, Saskatchewan https://sk.birdatlas.ca/accounts/speciesaccount.jsp?sp=BBCU&lang=en [09 Nov 2025]
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