Asian Koel

Asian Koel (Eudynamys scolopaceus) is a large cuckoo; males are glossy black with red eyes, while females are brown with heavy pale spotting and barring. Body shape, bill structure, plumage pattern and voice provide the strongest field characters. Age, sex and season may alter its appearance, so identification should combine several features and careful direct field comparisons with similar species in the same habitat (Wikipedia, general species account).

It eats mainly fruit and lays its eggs in crow and other host nests across South and Southeast Asia. Its movements and social behaviour vary through the year, with breeding birds generally more dispersed and non-breeding birds gathering where food is concentrated. The Korean vertebrate catalogue used for this guide records the species in South Korea (Wikipedia, general species account; Wildlife of Korea occurrence records).