Stanley Jewett et al. in their Birds of Washington State (U. W. Press,
Seattle, 1953) describe the Yellow-billed Cuckoo as "Rare summer resident
from May 3 to September 27 in the humid Transition Zone of western
Washington; one mid-August record from east of the Cascade Mountains." They
report a nest at Tacoma, June 1, 1905, with two slightly incubated eggs; two
other nests June 19 (with two slightly incubated eggs) & 24 (with four
slightly incubated eggs), 1923; another nest July 4, 1907 with 3 eggs
well-advanced in incubation.... Another nest with one well-incubated egg
July 18, 1909. They attribute the western Washington population to the race
Coccyzus americanus occidentalis, the "California Cuckoo." Are these the
same as the ones in Arizona? Is this western race on a later arrival
schedule than the eastern race(s)? In any case, it would seem they have
grown more tardy over the years.

Gene Hunn, Seattle, hunnhome at accessone.com

At 09:01 PM 12/14/97 -0800, you wrote:
>Hi Tweets -
>
>Brian Bell writes:
>
>>Gene Hunn is correct, in northern California the general time of cuckoo
>>arrival is late June to early July.
>
>So if Cascadian cuckoos are from the California population in 'overshoot'
>time, we could expect them in mid- to late July, since overshoot typically
>happens *after* the main migration for many if not most species; but the
>majority of known BC sightings, most from the S of the province, are in
>early June, so where might those birds be from?
>
>>(the one exception...flew overhead from the adjoining walnut orchard with a
>large
>>larva of some sort and disappeared into the forest).
>
>There's a judgement call: for most species during nesting season, you could
>safely infer the bird was carrying food to the nest, but perhaps the cuckoo
>was taking a large prey item to a perch where it could safely bash it before
>eating.
>
>Michael Price We aren't flying...we're falling with style!
>Vancouver BC Canada -Buzz Lightyear, Toy Story
>mprice at mindlink.net
>
>
>