NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Yellow-billed Cuckoo
Coccyzus americanus (Linnaeus, 1758)
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
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".
Wikipedia contributors, Yellow-billed cuckoo; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T07:45:45.006978+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Coccyzus americanus (Linnaeus, 1758)
- Name authority
- (Linnaeus, 1758)
- Common name
- Yellow-billed Cuckoo
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Cuculiformes
- Family
- Cuculidae
- Genus
- Coccyzus
- Extinction status
- Recorded extant
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classAves
- orderCuculiformes
- familyCuculidae
- genusCoccyzus Vieillot, 1816
- speciesCoccyzus americanus (Linnaeus, 1758)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Coccyzus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Pearly-breasted CuckooCoccyzus euleri Cabanis, 1873 | CuculidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Cocos CuckooCoccyzus ferrugineus Gould, 1843 | CuculidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Gray-capped CuckooCoccyzus lansbergi Bonaparte, 1850 | CuculidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Cuban Lizard-cuckooCoccyzus merlini (d'Orbigny, 1839) | CuculidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Black-billed CuckooCoccyzus erythropthalmus (A. Wilson, 1811) | CuculidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Dark-billed CuckooCoccyzus melacoryphus Vieillot, 1817 | CuculidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Mangrove CuckooCoccyzus minor (J. F. Gmelin, 1788) | CuculidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Coccyzus americanus americanus (Linnaeus, 1758) (Linnaeus, 1758) | synonym |
| Coccyzus americanus occidentalis Ridgway, 1887 Ridgway, 1887 | synonym |
| Cuculus americanus Linnaeus, 1758 Linnaeus, 1758 | synonym |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Middle America
North America
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=177831 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:5ZHNS. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.