The yellow-billed cuckoo is sometimes called the "rain crow" because its song is often heard just before thunderstorms or summer showers. But this rare bird raises its voice less and less often in ...

“If the cuckoo don’t crow, then you know there’s wind coming…” Brian from Melton recounts how his mother, Doris, was the woman who predicted the October 1987 hurricane and famously ...

This story appears in the January 2018 issue of National Geographic magazine. For the care and feeding of its offspring, the common cuckoo outsources. When she’s ready to lay an egg, a female ...

Furthermore, these changes in lineage also bring with them subtle variations in an adult cuckoo’s bird calls that allow male and female cuckoos to specialize in the same host. “Cuckoos are ...

Generally shy and elusive, the yellow-billed cuckoo can be easily overlooked. Its calls are usually loud and often provide the best evidence to the presence of the bird. It favors eating ...

Climate change also threatens the cuckoo with increased drought. Pesticide use and collisions with communication towers and other tall structures further imperil the bird. Critical habitat designation ...