Does a cockatrice actually need to land a bite for the initial DC 11 Con saving throw?

Question

According to the cockatrice's statblock on Roll20:

The target must succeed on a dc 11 constitution saving throw against being magically petrified On a failed save, the creature begins to turn to stone and is restrained. It must repeat the saving throw at the end of its next turn. On a success, the effect ends. On a failure, the creature is petrified for 24 hours

However, it doesn't actually mention that the initial Bite has to hit.

So, does the initial Bite have to hit or is the DC11 Con Saving throw separate to the Bite?

Answer 1

The bite has to hit

From the basic rules on monsters, we can see the following description of the "hit" notation (emphasis mine):

Hit. Any damage dealt or other effects that occur as a result of an attack hitting a target are described after the "Hit" notation.

Since the cockatrice's Bite includes the saving throw to avoid being petrified after the hit notation, as part of the bite action (emphasis mine):

Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +3 to hit, reach 5 ft., one creature. Hit: 3 (1d4 + 1) piercing damage, and the target must succeed on a DC 11 Constitution saving throw against being magically petrified. (...)

As this is all part of the same action, it requires the bite to hit for any effect to trigger that comes after the "Hit" notation, including the saving throw to avoid being petrified.

Roll20 seems to be erroneously separating the quote into two sentences which may have caused the confusion (though I should note that even with this text, the saving throw would still require a hit). The text on roll20 that you linked states:

Hit: (1d4 + 1) piercing damage. The target must succeed on a dc 11 constitution saving throw against being magically petrified.

Answer 2

Yes, the attack must hit first

To pull from slightly earlier in the same source:

Hit: 3 (1d4 + 1) piercing damage, and the target must succeed on a DC 11 Constitution saving throw against being magically Petrified.

Emphasis mine. The saving throw is a secondary effect that comes with the bite hitting.