The indian Koel

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        


MALE KOEL



FEMALE KOEL

THE ASian Koel (Eudynamys scolopaceus  is a member of the cuckoo order of birds, the Cuculiformes
Cuckoo – The Koel is 39- 46 cm in length. It is a long and slim bird. It has a long tail, pointed wings and curved bill. The male is glistening black, with yellowish green bill and crimson eyes. They have short wings but long tail. The female is dark brown, with profusely spotted and barred with white. Females have green beak and red eyes. Males and females are distinct in appearance. Tail is dark gray and slightly white in colour. The crown is dark brown and the bill is pale green in colour. Females are slightly smaller than the males.

Presence in India : They are mostly found in every part of India
The Indian koel are migrants that arrive here in Australia to breed from New Guinea. The arrival of the Indian koel is normally around the very end of winter and these Australian birds stay until the end of the summer months.

Habitat : Cuckoo prefers tall forests, suburban areas open moorlands, desert to tropical rainforests.

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BEHAVIOUR:The Asian Koel is a brood parasite, and lays its single egg in the nests of a variety of birds, including the Jungle Crow, and House Crow.

Diet : Cuckoos are carnivorous. They feed on fruits, insects , caterpillars, grasshoppers, lizards, small snakes and mammals. They feed in the canopy of the trees.

Reproduction : Its breeding season rests from September to February. It is a brood parasite. Cuckoo lay egg in the nest of the other bird. It prefers leafy trees for foraging . A single egg is laid in the host's nest and once hatched the chick forces the other eggs and hatchlings out of the nest. When the chick leaves the nest it roosts in the outer branches of a tree, parents search for food to satisfy the young ones. Young ones resembles the females, but they have dark eyes.

Taxonomy: Cuculus scolopaceus Linnaeus, 1758, Malabar.
Genus name sometimes incorrectly spelt Eudynamis. Australian birds are sometimes treated as a separate species (E. cyanocephala), and black-billed populations of Sulawesi to Moluccas and New Guinea as another (E. melanorhyncha); while both rufiventer and subcyanocephala are present in New Guinea, however, they are not known to breed sympatrically as two distinct species; and two forms (orientalis, ?cyanocephala) occur on Seram, but it is unknown if both breed there; songs and calls appear to be similar for all forms throughout their collective ....
Subspecies and Distribution:

• scolopacea (Linnaeus, 1758) - Nepal, Pakistan and India to Sri Lanka, Laccadives and Maldives.
• chinensis Cabanis & Heine, 1863 - S China and Indochina; winters S to Borneo.
• harterti Ingram, 1912 - Hainan  

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