Eudynamys orientalis
Silhouette: Nicolas Huet le Jeune and Jean-Gabriel Prêtre (vectorized by T. Michael Keesey) · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~30%
The Pacific koel (Eudynamys orientalis), also known as the eastern koel or formerly common koel, is a species of cuckoo in the family Cuculidae. In northern Australia, it is colloquially known as the rainbird or stormbird.
The Pacific koel was formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1766 in the twelfth edition of his Systema Naturae. He placed it with the cuckoos in the genus Cuculus and coined the binomial name Cuculus orientalis. Linnaeus based his account on the "Le Coucou noir des Indes" that had been described and illustrated in 1760 by the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson in his multi-volume work Ornithologie. The type locality is Ambon Island, one of the Maluku Islands of Indonesia. The Pacific koel is now placed in the genus Eudynamys that was introduced in 1827 by the naturalists Nicholas Vigors and Thomas Horsfield. It was formerly considered to be conspecific with the Asian koel (Eudynamys scolopaceus) and the black-billed koel (Eudynamys melanorhynchus).
Eight subspecies are recognised: Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Daintree National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 2 | Blue Mountains National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 3 | Royal National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 4 | Booderee National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 5 | Nitmiluk National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 6 | Noosa National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 7 | Litchfield National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 8 | Kakadu National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 9 | Springbrook National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 10 | Lamington National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 11 | Raja Ampat | 🇮🇩 Indonesia |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hartley’s Crocodile Adventures | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 2 | Featherdale Sydney Wildlife Park | 🇦🇺 Australia |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Pacific Koel sighting in Kakadu National Park on a given day, based on 86 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 122nd most-seen of the 186 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 30%, if each day is a fresh chance.
November
In that month about 30% of wildlife watchers report a Pacific Koel in Kakadu National Park on a given day, against under 5% in May to September, the lowest months. February has too few records to rate.
Between 3 and 6 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Pacific Koel sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
8th of 11
Of the 11 parks where we can rate Pacific Koel sightings, Kakadu National Park ranks 8th at under 5%. The best odds are in Daintree National Park (Australia, about 20%), Blue Mountains National Park (Australia, about 10%) and Royal National Park (Australia, about 10%).
Same family: Cuculidae
The closest relatives of the Pacific Koel that you can see in Kakadu National Park (family Cuculidae, Cuckoos) are Pheasant Coucal (about 30%), Rusty-breasted Cuckoo (about 20%) and Channel-billed Cuckoo (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Pacific Koel is recorded against all the birds logged in Kakadu National Park (86 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
