Among the strangest and most unexpected sounds you may hear during a trip to Thailand is the song of a peculiar bird: the Asian Koel. With its shrill, repetitive call that intensifies, it is often considered the loudest bird in Asia. A portrait of this most unusual bird...

Who is the Asian Koel?

The Asian Koel (Eudynamys scolopaceus by its scientific name) is a species of bird in the family of cuckoos. It is found primarily in Australia, Southeast Asia, India, and China.

The Asian Koel lives mainly in the canopy of trees, particularly in trees with dense vegetation where it loves to hide (it is an arboreal species) and where it can feed on ripe fruits (it is one of the rare cuckoo species to be frugivorous), insects, and nectar. You may also spot it in the edges of coastal mangroves.

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 features: they have eyes of intense red color, a grayish-green beak slightly curved downward, relatively short wings, and a quite long tail.

As for their differences, the adult male is distinguished by its glossy blue-black plumage, while the female is characterized by gray and brown colors speckled with cream white.

It should be noted 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 only lays one egg at a time).

Indeed, the female Asian Koel deposits her egg in a crow's nest that the male will have previously identified. 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 swallows one of the crow's eggs. This allows her both to benefit from a good nutritional boost but also to deceive 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), the Asian Koel eggs generally hatch before its clutch mates. When the baby Asian Koel is born, it can push the other eggs out of the nest. It may also push out the other chicks if they have already hatched.

It will then be fed by its adoptive parents, who often become exhausted. And for good reason: the young Koel grows rapidly and very quickly becomes larger than its foster parents. When it leaves the nest, it can be up to ten times more voluminous than them!

A chatty and very noisy bird

Most travelers setting foot for the first time on the soil of the kingdom of Siam ask themselves the same question: which bird is screaming everywhere in Thailand? It's the Asian Koel! Like all cuckoo species, the Koel is a chatty and very noisy bird. The word "Koel" moreover means "nightingale" in India because of the melodious song of the Indian cuckoo.

In any case, its cry is audible for miles around and can be recognized among a thousand. Indeed, its typical cry "Ko-eeul" is emitted at repeated intervals and increases in intensity and pitch. It's no wonder it's often nicknamed "the most noisy and annoying bird of Asia".

Some find it annoying, others find it amusing. One thing is certain: the cry of the Asian Koel does not 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?