Asian Koel

The male specie of the Asian Koel calling out to its mate. I was walking past on the way to my car when I saw this big black bird high up on the branches of a tree. It could not escape my Canon Powershot SX 210 IS with the 14x zoom lens.

This is a female Asian Koel, the male being black in colour. For once the female of a specie of birds has more attractive feathers than the male. This bird was spotted at the entrance to the Henderson Waves. It was playing hide-and-seek with me. In the end, I won.

Female Asian Koel

It was not my intention to photograph birds. It usually works like this - expect and you will be disappointed if things do not go the way you wish. Have no expectations and a surprise could await you. It happened to me when I was unprepared, caught with only a pocket digital camera that had only a 4x zoom facility - my trusty Canon IXUS 800IS. Still it was better than having no camera at all.

I could tell from the silhoutte of the creature that it was something that I had never seen before. I moved in cautiously and using the flash managed to get these photos that could help in the identification of this bird.


It was beautiful with such fine feathers and a lovely tail!

Asian Koel

For years I have been hearing the calls of these birds without knowing how they looked. Information from various web resources tell me that these birds came from Thailand and have made Singapore their home.

The males are black and could be mistaken for crows. I read that these birds sometimes lay their eggs in the nests of crows with the latter hatching and raising the baby birds without a clue about their true identity till they are old enough to leave the coop.

These photos were taken of two male birds (apparently the females are brownish in colour with white specks on their feathers) hiding in the branches of a very tall Norfolk pine in the vicinity of Venus Drive.

Now see the video clip: