Yellow-Billed Cuckoo AKA Rain Crow

Sitting here near the top of a ridge hoping to hear a turkey gobble on this last day of the 2023 Spring Gobbler Season and I heard a bird I couldn’t ID.

I used the Merlin app on my phone to record its call and Merlin said it was a yellow-billed cuckoo. I googled it and sure enough, same call.

I never even heard of these birds before. First time I used the Merlin app too.

Now if only I’d hear a turkey, I have no problem ID’ing them!

I bought that app a couple years ago to ID a bird in the Northwoods, Was a Warbler of some sort, anyway I use it all over the country now. When Turkey hunting gets a little boring, I use it to help pass time. Found alot of birds I had no idea were even here.

Interesting, so you’ve found it to be pretty accurate then?

I’ve got the free version of the app. It’s been on my phone for over a year. After listen to the cuckoo for a couple of minutes I remembered the app.

The wife has it in her phone too, she uses it a lot.

The rain crows are very vocal this time of year. Most don’t know what they are and they’ll argue it’s a dove making the noise. They do look “ slightly” like a dove.

I guess folks who don’t know could confuse them with a mourning dove, they are somewhat similar but different if you know what a dove sounds like.

I have heard them alot, or that call anyways. I have never seen one but I will be on the lookout now. I had never seen an Eastern Towhee either until I got the app. Now I find them from Florida to Wisconsin.

Have them here

That Merlin app is handy

Thats cool

Ihar them often here If I am messing around outside in the yard or out hunting or trapping But I have no idea what they look like .

I didn’t either until I identified the call and then looked them up. I’ve never seen one live.

So you’re not going to play the call, lol?

Good buggers. They love to eat the nasty caterpillars

It’s fun to learn the different calls, and the app is a great way to do it. I use it all the time and would say the sound ID is right about 95% of the time. If you are in doubt play back the recording and see if the bird responds or comes on for a look. Use the calling very sparingly as it can disrupt breeding birds on nests.

The reason they think they’re doves is occasionally one will light on a wire and do their call. Other than that time you hardly get to see one. They look, at a glance, like a dove silhouette. They make an altogether different sound early in the mornings that sounds like a lake loon or something. Interesting bird.

Did you kill a turkey?

I had no doubt when I played a recording of the call. It was exactly what I heard. I wonder if I could playback some recordings of hen turkeys to aid in my spring gobbler hunting. I’m joking, that would be totally illegal here.

No, it looks like I’m not going to kill one this season. I worked one last Friday for three hours and came close to killing him but haven’t heard a gobble since. Today’s the last day. I may do an evening hunt before heading home tomorrow morning but they are calling for 85° here, so I kind of doubt it.

Keep hunting! I don't know about up there but I generally kill them between 10 and 2.

Can't hunt past noon here

Can only hunt till noon the first half of the season here, then all day the second half of the season. I’ve killed nearly all my spring turkeys between six and nine in the morning. I’ve never killed one past noon. I’m not a fan of afternoon/evening hunts, especially when it’s hot out.

I always steered clear of evening hunts because I don't want to screw up the roost. But I have no idea about hunting Easterns. I hunt the dumber cousin--Rios.

These birds can get pretty hard to kill when they get pressured. And it seems like they’re either always pressured, henned up or both.

It makes for a very exciting hunt! I love chasing the educated two and three year olds, very
challenging.

They’re not henned up right now, but the ones that are not already dead, have heard just about every call known to man and are pretty wary about coming in closer than sixty yards or so.

On another note, I found this the other morning.









I looked around for the rest of the nest but couldn’t find it. Maybe whatever destroyed this egg didn’t go back for the rest, but I doubt it.