Difference between revisions of "Asian Koel" - BirdForum Opus

Revision as of 19:23, 21 August 2015

Male Asian Koel
Photo by anonymous_guy
Lamma Island, Hong Kong

Eudynamys scolopaceus

Identification

40-45cm
Male:

Bluish-black
Pale green bill
Red eyes
Grey legs and feet

Female:

Brownish upperparts with white spots
Whitish underparts heavily striped and spotted brown
Olive or green beak
Red eyes

Distribution

Female Asian Koel
Photo by 996sps
Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia, February 2007

Found from southern Asia, China, Indochina to the northern Moluccas (Indonesia).

Taxonomy

Formerly considered conspecific with Black-billed Koel and Pacific Koel.

Subspecies

Juvenile
Photo by bankim
Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India, July 2005

There are 5 subspecies^[1]:

E. s. scolopaceus: Nepal to Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, Laccadives and Maldives
E. s. chinensis: Southern China and Indochina; winters to Borneo
E. s. harterti: Hainan (southern China)
E. s. malayanus (dolosa): North-eastern India to Thailand, Malaya, Sumatra, Borneo and Lesser Sundas
E. s. mindanensis: Philippines, Palawan, Sulu Archaepelago, Sangihe Island and Talaud Islands and northern Moluccas (Morotai, Halmahera, Ternate, Tidore and Bacan)

Habitat

Light woodland and on the fringes of urban areas, mangrove, scrub, plantations, orchards, gardens, parks, rare in forests

Behaviour

Breeding

These birds are what you call brood-parasitic, meaning it lays its eggs in nest of Large-billed Crow, and House Crow.

Diet

Whilst the adults feed mainly on fruit, their diet also includes insects, caterpillars, eggs and small vertebrates.

Vocalisation

Call: This is most unique. It consists of a series of 'tuhoo's wherein the 'hoo' is slightly drawn out. The repetitions are very quick, one after the other.

In Culture

Since the bird is most active just before the onset of monsoon, Indians believe that its arrival heralds the oncoming rains.

In Sri Lanka, this bird has a strong association with the traditional new year celebrations of Sri Lanka. In the literature around the festival, the song of the bird is regarded as heralding new year. This bird is known as the koha in Sri Lanka by the Sinhala speaking community.

References

Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2015. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2015, with updates to August 2015. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
Wikipedia
BF Member observations

List of references

Recommended Citation

BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Asian Koel. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 12 May 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Asian_Koel

External Links

Search for photos of Asian Koel in the gallery

Search for videos of Asian Koel on BirdForum TV

@@ Line 15: / Line 15: @@
 ==Distribution==
 [[Image:Asian Koel Female .jpg|thumb|350px|right|Female Asian Koel<br>Photo by {{user|996sps|996sps}} <br />Petaling Jaya, Selangor, [[Malaysia]], February 2007]]
-Found from southern [[Asia]], [[China]], [[Indochina]] and [[Indonesia]] to [[New Guinea]].
+Found from southern [[Asia]], [[China]], [[Indochina]] to the northern [[Moluccas]] ([[Indonesia]]).
 ==Taxonomy==
-Formerly also "Common Koel".
+Formerly considered conspecific with [[Black-billed Koel]] and [[Pacific Koel]].
-Asian Koel with thirteen subspecies were split from [[Australian Koel]] and [[Black-billed Koel]] by some authorities, however, others still think that the best treatment is to consider all three as one species which would then be named Common Koel, ''Eudynamys scolopacea''.
-At least one authority goes the other way and want to split subspecies ''orientalis'' (and other subspecies) from the rest of Asian Koel: the new species if accepted would become Pacific Koel, ''Eudynamys orientalis'' and would include [[Australian Koel]].
 ====Subspecies====
 [[Image:25320Asian Koel-Female Imm .jpg|thumb|350px|right|Juvenile <br />Photo by {{user|bankim|bankim}}<br />Ahmedabad, Gujarat, [[India]], July 2005]]
-There are 13 subspecies<sup>[[#References|[1]]]</sup>:
+There are 5 subspecies<sup>[[#References|[1]]]</sup>:
 *''E. s. scolopaceus'': [[Nepal]] to [[Pakistan]], [[India]], [[Sri Lanka]], Laccadives and [[Maldives]]
 *''E. s. chinensis'': Southern [[China]] and [[Indochina]]; winters to [[Borneo]]
 *''E. s. harterti'': Hainan (southern [[China]])
 *''E. s. malayanus'' (dolosa): North-eastern [[India]] to [[Thailand]], [[Malaya]], [[Sumatra]], [[Borneo]] and [[Lesser Sundas]]
-*''E. s. simalurensis'': Simeulue Island (off western [[Sumatra]])
+*''E. s. mindanensis'': [[Philippines]], Palawan, Sulu Archaepelago, Sangihe Island and Talaud Islands and northern [[Moluccas]] (Morotai, Halmahera, Ternate, Tidore and Bacan)
-*''E. s. frater'': Northern [[Philippines]] (Calayan and Fuga)
-*''E. s. mindanensis'': [[Philippines]], Palawan, Sulu Archaepelago, Sangihe Island and Talaud Islands
-*''E. s. corvinus'': Northern [[Moluccas]] (Morotai, Halmahera, Ternate, Tidore and Bacan)
-*''E. s. orientalis'': Southern [[Moluccas]] (Buru, Manipa, Kelang, Seram, Ambon, Watubela)
-*''E. s. picatus'': Kai Islands and Sumba to [[Timor]] and Roma
-*''E. s. rufiventer'': [[New Guinea]]
-*''E. s. salvadorii'': Bismarck Archipelago
-*''E. s. alberti'': [[Solomon Islands]]
 ==Habitat==
 Light woodland and on the fringes of urban areas, mangrove, scrub, plantations, orchards, gardens, parks, rare in forests
@@ Line 52: / Line 40: @@
 In Sri Lanka, this bird has a strong association with the traditional new year celebrations of Sri Lanka. In the literature around the festival, the song of the bird is regarded as heralding new year. This bird is known as the koha in Sri Lanka by the Sinhala speaking community.
 ==References==
-#{{Ref-Clements6thAug13}}#Wikipedia
+#{{Ref-Clements6thAug15}}#Wikipedia
 #BF Member observations
 {{ref}}