One local resident couple, allegedly from Lamma (where else?), called this "the orgasm bird", and this has caught on, and is a familiar way to describe this bird with the rising, crescendo of a call. I hope they found their partner less annoying.
This is the noisy male above, and below the female (thanks and credit to Andrew Hardacre for the picture of the Female)
Fascinating facts:
The Asian koel is a large, long-tailed, cuckoo (Eudynamys scolopaceus).
The Asian koel - like all cuckoos - is a brood parasite, and lays its single egg in the nests of a variety of birds.
- Their timing is impeccable, with the eggs being laid within days of the host's eggs, and the chicks hatching normally just days before the host chicks do!
- Unlike most cuckoos the the young koels do not evict the eggs or kill the host chicks. - Cuckoos are named after the onomatopoeic sound which they produce: 'cuck-oo, cuck-oo'. Even though the whole family is named by this unique sound, only one cuckoo species (The Common cuckoo) is able to produce this sound.
- The good news is that these calls only continue for around a month or two. Each species returns on more on less the same date every year and to the same location. - So, the bad news? if you’ve got one this year, you’re likely to have one next year, and the year after.
NB: this is NOT the "brain-fever" bird which is much rarer, and less likely to be near residential locations, preferring remoter hillsides; the common/great hawk cuckoo, named by Kipling in one of his poems, which also refers to its "annoying" call that disturbs the sleep and rest of so many.
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