Monday, November 24, 2014

COMMON KOEL

Photographed in Bendigo,  November 2014
405         PACIFIC KOEL           Eudynamys orientalis

Australia          (279)

Also known as Eastern Koel, and colloquially as railbird or stormbird. A large cuckoo, well-known for its distinctive mournful call. Found in leafy, fruiting trees on fringes of rainforests, woodlands, streams; farmlands, parks, streets. Range: winters in PNG-Indonesia, breeds in n. and e. Aust. from Kimberley to s. coast NSW, occasionally e. Vict and s. WA; ranges to India and China. The one pictured is on edge of its range at Bendigo, one of two or three males in the town.