Female Asian Koel

This female Asian Koel (Eudynamys scolopaceus) is a member of the cuckoo order of birds, the Cuculiformes. It is found in South Asia, China, and Southeast Asia. It forms a superspecies with the closely related Black-billed and Pacific Koels which are sometimes treated as subspecies. The Asian Koel is a brood parasite that lays its eggs in the nests of crows and other hosts, who raise its young. They are unusual among the cuckoos in being largely frugivorous as adults. The name koel is echoic in origin and the bird is a widely used symbol in Indian poetry.

The Asian Koel is a large, long-tailed, cuckoo at 45 cm. The male is glossy bluish-black, with a pale greenish grey bill, the iris is crimson, and it has grey legs and feet. The female is brownish on the crown and has rufous streaks on the head. The back, rump and wing coverts are dark brown with white and buff spots. The underparts are whitish, but is heavily striped.

They are very vocal during the breeding season (March to August in South Asia), with a range of different calls. The familiar song of the male is a repeated koo-Ooo. The female makes a shrill kik-kik-kik… call.

Female Asian Koel

The Asian Koel is a bird of light woodland and cultivation. It is a mainly resident breeder in tropical southern Asia from India and Sri Lanka to south China and the Greater Sundas. They have great potential in colonizing new areas, and were among the pioneer birds to colonize the volcanic island of Krakatau.

The Asian Koel is a brood parasite, and lays its single egg in the nests of a variety of birds, including the Jungle Crow, and House Crow. Males may distract the hosts so that the female gets a chance to lay an egg in the nest. More often however, the female visits the nest of the host alone. The chicks of the Koel hatched about 3 days ahead of the host chicks. Koels usually lay only an egg or two in a single nest but as many as seven to eleven eggs have been reported from some host nests. A female may remove a host egg before laying. Eggs hatch in 12 to 14 days. The young Koel does not always push out eggs or evict the host chicks, and initially calls like a crow. The young fledge in 20 to 28 days. Unlike as in some other cuckoos, the young do not attempt to kill the host chicks, a trait that is shared with the Channel-billed Cuckoos which are also largely frugivorous as adults. It has been suggested that Koels, like some other brood parasites do not evict the host chicks due presumably due to the higher cost of evicting nestmates. A small parasite may not be able to evict large host eggs or chicks from a deep Corvid nest without risking starvation and possibly accidental self-eviction.

The Asian Koel is omnivorous, consuming a variety of insects, caterpillars, eggs and small vertebrates. Adults feed mainly on fruit. They will sometimes defend fruiting trees that they forage in and chase away other frugivores. They have been noted to be especially important in the dispersal of the sandalwood tree (Santalum album) in India. Large seeded fruits are sometimes quickly regurgitated near the parent tree while small seeded fruits are ingested and are likely to be deposited at greater distances from the parent tree. They have a large gape and are capable of swallowing large fruits including the hard fruit of palms such as Arenga and Livistona.

The word “Koel” is derived from the Hindi word which is onomatopoeic in origin. The Sanskrit root is “Kokila” and the words in various Indian languages are similar. It is traditionally held in high regard for its song and held in reverence with the Manusmriti, an ancient decree protecting them from harm. These birds were once very popular in India as cagebirds. Feeding even on boiled rice, these hardy birds lived in captivity for as long as 14 years.

female Asian Koel

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

Courtesy: Wikipedia

Indian Palm Squirrel

Indian Palm Squirrel (Funambulus palmarum) or Three-Striped Palm Squirrel is a urban dwelling rodent which co-habits with us in South India. Its cousin, the Five-striped Palm Squirrel (Funambulus pennanti) is common in North India. Both these are associated with man and cities, while other related species of striped squirrels like the Malabar Giant Squirrel, Grizzled Giant Squirrel and the nocturnal Flying Squirrels are forest dwellers.

That day there was a short respite from the torrential rain. I went out to shoot a couple of Racket Tailed Drongos which were frequenting my garden. What I got was this cute furry creature. I photographed this squirrel in cloudy evening light using Canon EOS 7D with Canon EF 300mm f/2.8 L IS USM with Canon EF 1.4x II Extender.

Hide and Seek

I have covered these squirrels in my earlier blog – Indian Palm Squirrel. Unlike other rodents people seem to have a soft corner to this cute cuddly creature. Our mythology has abundant reference to this squirrel. They are great trapeze artists and enjoy balancing precariously over tiny branches as well telephone wires.

You can observe them frequently chasing one another, grooming each other and at times sunning themselves on the branches of trees. They nest in tree holes, amid branches of trees, in holes in the walls, or even in the ledge of the window of a house.

Foraging for food

Fruits, nuts, nectar, tender shoots, flower buds, bark, insects and food and refuse put out by humans are all consumed often sitting on their haunches and using forelegs to manipulate food.

Pheasant-tailed Jacana

I found this Pheasant-tailed Jacana (Hydrophasianus chirurgus) in non-breeding form at Mallyadi Bird Sanctuary near Kundapura last February. I was using my Canon EOS 5D mark II with Canon EF 300mm f/4.0 L IS USM attached with Canon EF 1.4x II Extender to photograph this beautiful bird.

Pheasant-tailed Jacana (Hydrophasianus chirurgus) is the only member of the Jacana family to have different plumages for the breeding and non-breeding seasons. Distributed on the Indian subcontinent and from Central China through South East Asia, Afghanistan and as far as Java and the Philippines. Resident on lakes, marshes and ponds where it feeds on invertebrates, frogs and fish. Jacanas are a group of waders in the family Jacanidae that are identifiable by their huge feet and claws which enable them to walk on floating vegetation in shallow lakes, their preferred habitat. The Pheasant-tailed Jacana is capable of swimming, although it usually walks on the vegetation.

It is conspicuous in the breeding season because of the long pheasant-like tail of the male. The plumage is blackish-brown with white head and neck. On the nape of the neck there is a yellow mark. Its wings are dazzlingly white in flight. Females are slightly larger than males with similar but brighter colours. Non-breeding adults lack the long tail. The underparts are white except for a brown breast band and neck stripe. The side of the neck is golden.

Pheasant-tailed Jacana

In the breeding season, the male grows the 15cm (6″) arching tail, to which the bird owes its name. A female may mate with up to ten males, each of which incubates a clutch and raises his own brood. The female is able to present her males with a full clutch of 4 eggs at intervals of 9-12 days. Each male is visited twice in succession giving a total of 6-8 clutches or 24-36 eggs in a year.

The cocks were seen to approach the clutch with great care and carefully to preen, especially the breast feathers, so that they are quite dry and airy for the brood. Then he spreads his pale-green legs and lowers his breast slowly while supporting himself on his wings. He pushes the eggs together under his belly with the wings and, swaying from side to side, scoops the eggs up from the wet ground with his white wings so that they lie warm and protected between his breast and underside of the wings.

After torrents of rain and rising water levels, this jacana moves its nesting site. If disturbed, the eggs are moved to previously built nests at new sites. Moves have been observed in July and August. The distance moved is 1-15m. It is a common but not regular and on occasion seen to occur 3-4 times with the same clutch.

After the first chick is hatched, it is not easy for the cock to remain sitting firmly on the clutch; his changed position, higher and looser tells the experienced observer that some hatching has taken place.

Pheasant-tailed Jacana

If one approached the nest, the chicks, when only a few hours old, will leave the nest slowly and hide under leaf or among water plants where they remain motionless with only their beaks above the water surface.

About 2-3 times an hour, the father gathers the chicks together at a suitable place such as a lotus leaf on the water or on somewhat firmer ground – there he broods them under his abdomen or his wings. First, with legs spread out and bending his legs, he slowly lowers his body. Then he raises his wings slightly and with them protects the chicks as they snuggle up to him. Such a comforting rest period of 5-10 minutes breaks up the strenuous foraging for food. The cock can hold the brood between body and wing in such a way that they are practically carried with their legs dangling freely.

Their call is a mewing me-onp and a nasal teeun