The Koel story

The Eastern Koel arrives in Australia from Asia in spring. It is a cuckoo that throws other birds eggs out of nests so they can lay their own egg in them. This means that the surrogate birds get to raise a youngster that is often twice the size of their own babies so you will see in this case a Wattle bird feeding a Koel baby. These foster parents become quite exhausted in the process. Adult male Koel's are glossy black with red eyes and they have very distinctive calls. The Channel- billed cuckoo is another migrant to Australia that does this.

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