My wife and I hated this Asian Koel ‘guy’ (yes, they are male!). Every morning till the cyclone ‘Umpun’ hit West Bengal on 20th May,2020 it was his call from our neighbor’s mango trees that acted as our pre-alarm clock in the morning! The storm partially uprooted one of the mango trees and additionally, our terrified neighbors cut those trees down to one-fourth of their volume. But who cares! We are also ‘very happy’ that the shy bird who almost always found me before I found him and flew away, doesn’t create any perturbation to our early morning sleep. Cheers to ‘conservation’!

কোকিল

There are several features which differentiate the male and the female.

The physical difference is evident from the comparative image given bellow.

Other that that, males have melodious song and loud call which can be heard frequently, whereas females call are quite harsh and very rarely heard!

Resident of West Bengal.

• In general this species is quite shy. They like to sit quietly within the cover of leaves. I’ve mostly spotted them in mango or jackfruit trees which are usually evergreen and quite dense.
• Often get chased by crows.
• Different fruits are their favourite. I’ve never seen them feed on insects!

They are abundantly found within the city limit, whether it is an urban area or a birding hotspot like Rabindra Sarobar.