CAN THE WESTERN SUBSPECIES OF THE YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO BE SAVED FROM EXTINCTION?

Abstract

Historically, the California Yellow-billed Cuckoo (Coccyzus americanus occidentalis) was considered common in river bottoms throughout the western United States and southern British Columbia (Gaines and Laymon 1984). It began a drastic decline in numbers as the riparian forests on which it depended were removed for fuel and to make way for agriculture and grazing.