Taxonomy
The genus ''Eudynamys'' was introduced in 1827 by the English naturalists Nicholas Aylward Vigors, Nicholas Vigors and Thomas Horsfield. The name combines the Ancient Greek ''eu'' meaning "fine" with ''dunamis'' meaning "power" or "strength". The type species was designated as the Pacific koel by George Robert Gray in 1840. A molecular genetic study by Sorenson and Payne (2005) found that the closest relative of ''Eudynamys'' is the dwarf koel (''Microdynamis parva''), and beyond that the thick-billed cuckoo (''Pachycoccyx audeberti''). They found that the Pacific long-tailed cuckoo, long-tailed cuckoo (''Urodynamis taitensis'') of New Zealand and the Pacific, which had earlier been placed in ''Eudynamys'' as ''E. taitensis'' and sometimes called the long-tailed koel, was more distantly related, along with other members of the tribe Cuculini, including the white-crowned cuckoo (''Cacomantis leucolophus''), also known as the white-crowned koel. However, not all the evidence for the relationships was very strong and further research was required.Sorenson, Michael D.; Robert B. Payne, Payne, Robert B. (2005). "A molecular genetic analysis of cuckoo phylogeny". In Payne, Robert B. ''The Cuckoos''. Oxford University Press. pp. 90, 93. .Species
The Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy of the common koel Species complex, complex is difficult and remains a matter of dispute. Some recognize only a single species (common koel, ''Eudynamys scolopaceus'', with ''melanorhynchus'' and ''orientalis'' as subspecies); some recognize two species (common koel, ''Eudynamys scolopaceus'', with ''orientalis'' as a subspecies, and black-billed koel, ''Eudynamys melanorhynchus''); and others recignize three species. Common koel may therefore refer to: * Asian koel, ''Eudynamys scolopaceus'' * Black-billed koel, ''Eudynamys melanorhynchus'' * Pacific koel, ''Eudynamys orientalis'' and Australian koel, ''Eudynamys (orientalis) cyanocephalus''Sexual dimorphism
The female koel's plumage is banded and speckled in shades of brown. The Function (biology), evolutionary function is to camouflage her approach to her host's nest and enable her brood parasitism to go undetected. Noisy miner and Anthochaera, wattle birds have been observed feeding their fledglings. The male's sexual dimorphism, sexually dimorphic plumage is black, like a Australian raven, raven. They are of a similar size to ravens and are known to have territories that overlap with ravens. They have also been observed being mobbed by noisy miners and wattle birds in the same way as ravens (egg predators) are. The male koel may be a raven Mimicry, mimic enabling the female to approach the host's nest, either deliberately or opportunistically, while the host flock is engaged in (distracted) mobbing the male.References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q262536 Cuculidae Eudynamys, * Birds of Southeast Asia, Taxa named by Thomas Horsfield Taxa named by Nicholas Aylward Vigors