The Pacific koel (''Eudynamys orientalis''), also known as the eastern koel or formerly Common Koel, is a species of

cuckoo Cuckoos are birds in the Cuculidae family, the sole taxon in the order Cuculiformes . The cuckoo family includes the common or European cuckoo, roadrunners, koels, malkohas, couas, coucals and anis. The coucals and anis are sometimes separ ...

in the family

Cuculidae Cuckoos are birds in the Cuculidae family, the sole taxon in the order Cuculiformes . The cuckoo family includes the common or European cuckoo, roadrunners, koels, malkohas, couas, coucals and anis. The coucals and anis are sometimes separa ...

. In

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, it is colloquially known as the ''rainbird'' or ''stormbird'', as its call is usually more prevalent before or during stormy weather.

Taxonomy

It has often been considered

conspecific Biological specificity is the tendency of a characteristic such as a behavior or a biochemical variation to occur in a particular species. Biochemist Linus Pauling stated that "Biological specificity is the set of characteristics of living organ ...

with the

Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...

and

black-billed koel The black-billed koel (''Eudynamys melanorhynchus'') is a species of cuckoo in the family Cuculidae. It is Endemism, endemic to forest and woodland on the Indonesian islands of Sulawesi, Sula Islands, Sula, Banggai Island, Banggai, Togian Island ...

s, but they are increasingly treated as a separate species. Alternatively, the population breeding in

has been considered a separate species, the Australian Koel (''Eudynamys cyanocephalus''), with the remaining

taxa In biology, a taxon (back-formation from ''taxonomy''; plural taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular nam ...

then considered subspecies of the Asian koel.

Distribution and habitat

The Pacific koel is found in forest, woodland, plantations and gardens from

Wallacea Wallacea is a biogeographical designation for a group of mainly Indonesian islands separated by deep-water straits from the Asian and Australian continental shelves. Wallacea includes Sulawesi, the largest island in the group, as well as Lo ...

east to the

Solomon Islands Solomon Islands is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 900 smaller islands in Oceania, to the east of Papua New Guinea and north-west of Vanuatu. It has a land area of , and a population of approx. 700,000. Its capita ...

and south to northern and eastern Australia. The Pacific koel has not been rated by

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

, but the Australian Koel (here included in the Pacific koel) is considered to be of

Least Concern A least-concern species is a species that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as evaluated as not being a focus of species conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wild. T ...

Behaviour

The Pacific koel is a

brood parasite Brood parasites are animals that rely on others to raise their young. The strategy appears among birds, insects and fish. The brood parasite manipulates a host, either of the same or of another species, to raise its young as if it were its own ...

. In Australia, their hosts are mainly large

honeyeater The honeyeaters are a large and diverse family (biology), family, Meliphagidae, of small to medium-sized birds. The family includes the Epthianura, Australian chats, myzomelas, friarbirds, wattlebirds, Manorina, miners and melidectes. They are ...

s (especially

noisy friarbird The noisy friarbird (''Philemon corniculatus'') is a passerine bird of the honeyeater family Meliphagidae native to southern New Guinea and eastern Australia. It is one of several species known as friarbirds whose heads are bare of feathers. It ...

s and

red wattlebird The red wattlebird (''Anthochaera carunculata'') is a passerine bird native to southern Australia. At in length, it is the second largest species of Australian honeyeater. It has mainly grey-brown plumage, with red eyes, distinctive pinkish-re ...

s). Unlike in other parasitic cuckoos, the young do not attempt to kill the host chicks. This trait is shared with the

channel-billed cuckoo The channel-billed cuckoo (''Scythrops novaehollandiae'') is a species of cuckoo in the family Cuculidae. It is monotypic within the genus ''Scythrops''.Payne (2005), p. 380. The species is the largest brood parasite in the world, and the largest ...

, which – as in the Pacific koel – are largely

frugivorous A frugivore is an animal that thrives mostly on raw fruits or succulent fruit-like produce of plants such as roots, shoots, nuts and seeds. Approximately 20% of mammalian herbivores eat fruit. Frugivores are highly dependent on the abundance and ...

as adults. A study of vocalization noted that the duetting behaviour may indicate the possibility of short-term pair-bonding in its otherwise

polygynous Polygyny (; from Neoclassical Greek πολυγυνία (); ) is the most common and accepted form of polygamy around the world, entailing the marriage of a man with several women. Incidence Polygyny is more widespread in Africa than in any ...

mating system.Maller, C. J., & Jones, D. N. (2001). ''Vocal behaviour of the Common Koel, ''Eudynamys scolopacea'', and implications for mating systems.'' Emu 101(2):105-112

Identification

The Pacific Koel can be identified by its black plumage, often tinted with blue and green, and red eye. Like most animals the Pacific Koel is subject to

Sexual dimorphism Sexual dimorphism is the condition where the sexes of the same animal and/or plant species exhibit different morphological characteristics, particularly characteristics not directly involved in reproduction. The condition occurs in most ani ...

as its females sport brown plumage along their back with white spots and their underbellies are often cream coloured with fine black stripes. While young birds resemble the female they have dark eyes.

Gallery

File:Australian Koel male fem.ogg, Female, then male feeding on fruit in southeast

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

, Australia File:Australian Koel juv.ogv, Juvenile being fed.

Gympie, Queensland Gympie ( ) is a city and a locality in the Gympie Region, Queensland, Australia. In the Wide Bay-Burnett District, Gympie is about north of the state capital, Brisbane. The city lies on the Mary River, which floods Gympie occasionally. The l ...

, Australia

References

* Payne, R. B. (1997) ''Eudynamys scolopacea'' (Common Koel). pp. 570–571 in: del Hoyo, J.; Elliot, A. & Christie, D. (editors). (1997). ''

Handbook of the Birds of the World The ''Handbook of the Birds of the World'' (HBW) is a multi-volume series produced by the Spanish publishing house Lynx Edicions in partnership with BirdLife International. It is the first handbook to cover every known living species of bird. T ...

''. Volume 4: Sandgrouse to Cuckoos. Lynx Edicions. {{Taxonbar, from=Q781915

Pacific koel The Pacific koel (''Eudynamys orientalis''), also known as the eastern koel or formerly Common Koel, is a species of cuckoo in the family Cuculidae. In Australia, it is colloquially known as the ''rainbird'' or ''stormbird'', as its call is usual ...

Birds of Sulawesi Birds of the Maluku Islands Birds of the Lesser Sunda Islands Birds of New Guinea Birds of the Solomon Islands Birds of the Northern Territory Birds of Queensland Birds of New South Wales

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