A Yellow-billed Cuckoo, rare here

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[note: I haven't posted as I have been very busy finishing Colo Breeding Bird Atlas II surveys, following a few special birds, and several conservation duties]

Yesterday morning while checking for breeding birds on private property in the Canon City, CO area I heard soft 'coo-coo-cooing' calls. When I investigated I spotted this Yellow-billed Cuckoo skulking inside the branches of a tree. It stayed partially hidden behind vegetation and this is the only photo I got off before it responded to the camera mechanical noise by fleeing out the back and into a thicket. Though not a large area of trees, it is very scrubby around the cottonwood and Russian Olive trees on the uplands bordering a marsh below (I did hear a Virginia Rail giving it's kiddick calls from there). I was not able to refind it then nor several times since then. It has several years since I have seen, or heard, Yellow-billed Cuckoos in this area with only one year when I recall hearing them calling in several areas during one season. I believe they have nested in my area as I once saw one carrying nesting material and they have generally been present in riparian areas consistent with their breeding habitat. I am always thrilled to see this species as it has suffered serious population declines, especially in the West, and is a Candidate species for T&E listing. SeEtta

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