March 18, 2024

Among the strangest and most unexpected sounds you'll encounter during a trip to Thailand is the call of a peculiar bird: the Asian Koel. With its shrill, repetitive song that intensifies as it goes, it's often considered the loudest bird in Asia. Here's the portrait of this truly remarkable creature…

Who is the Asian Koel?

The Asian Koel (Eudynamys scolopaceus by its scientific name) is a species of bird belonging to the family of cuckoos. You'll find it primarily in Australia, Southeast Asia, India, and China.

The Asian Koel lives essentially in the canopy of trees, particularly in densely vegetated trees where it loves to hide (it's an arboreal species) and where it can feed on ripe fruits (it's one of the rare cuckoo species to be frugivorous), insects, and nectar. You can also spot it in the fringes of coastal mangrove forests.

What Does the Asian Koel Look Like?

The Asian Koel is a large cuckoo: it measures between 39 and 49 cm in length. Males and females have different physical characteristics but share some common features: they have intensely red eyes, a greenish-grey beak slightly curved downward, relatively short wings, and a fairly long tail.

As for their differences, the adult male stands out with its glossy blue-black plumage, while the female is characterized by grey and brown tones speckled with cream white.

Note that juveniles resemble females more closely and have dark eyes.

A Nest-Stealing Bird

Like other cuckoo species, the Asian Koel is a parasitic bird. In other words, it steals the nests of other bird species to lay its eggs (or rather, its single egg, since the female lays only one egg at a time).

Indeed, the female Asian Koel deposits her egg in the nest of a crow that the male has previously spotted. Why a crow's nest? Because the eggs of these two bird species are relatively similar.

Once she has laid her egg, the female quickly devours one of the crow's eggs. This allows her to gain valuable nutrients while also deceiving the female crow, who won't notice the deception. The egg is then incubated by the adoptive mother until it hatches.

Since the incubation period is short (approximately 12 to 16 days), Asian Koel eggs typically hatch before their nestmates. When the baby Asian Koel is born, it may push other eggs out of the nest. It can also push out other chicks if they've already hatched.

It will then be fed by its adoptive parents, who often become exhausted. And for good reason—the Koel chick grows rapidly and quickly becomes much larger than its foster parents. By the time it leaves the nest, it can be up to ten times heavier than them!

A Chatty and Very Loud Bird

Most travelers setting foot in the Kingdom of Siam for the first time ask the same question: what bird is screaming everywhere in Thailand? It's the Asian Koel! Like all cuckoo species, the Koel is a chatty and very loud bird. The word "Koel" actually means "nightingale" in India, a reference to the melodious song of the Indian cuckoo.

In any case, its call is audible for miles around and you can recognize it among a thousand others. Indeed, its typical cry "Ko-eul" is emitted at repeated intervals and increases in intensity and pitch. It's not for nothing that it's often nicknamed "the most noisy and annoying bird of Asia."

Some find it irritating, others find it amusing. One thing is certain: the call of the Asian Koel doesn't go unnoticed and leaves no one indifferent…

And you, have you ever heard the song of the Asian Koel in Thailand or elsewhere in the world?

Florine Dergelet

Florine Dergelet

Web writer for over 10 years, Florine Dergelet is a traveler driven by the desire to discover the world with an open heart. Each of her articles is an invitation to slow down, to listen, to understand. For her, traveling isn't about checking countries off a map, but about forming bonds (often invisible but always powerful) with places, peoples, and all sorts of creatures in the animal kingdom. Her motto? Advise travelers with integrity, raise their awareness about animal welfare, respect for cultures, and the importance of humble and sustainable tourism. Because the most beautiful memories are often born far from the spotlight, in the shadow of a trail, in the midst of a conversation, or in the quiet breath of a world we finally take time to hear…