Activists rescue Asian Koel caught in kite line

The Asian Koel (Eudynamys scolopaceus) that was rescued by activists at Puliakulam in Coimbatore on Tuesday.

An environmental activist group rescued a male Asian Koel (Eudynamys scolopaceus) found entangled in a kite line and hanging from a tree at Puliakulam here on Tuesday.

The Environment Conservation Group, an NGO based in Coimbatore, received a call regarding the bird and sent a team led by its president R. Mohammed Saleem. The team members brought the bird down by using a pole. On examination, the bird had no injuries but was found traumatised. The bird is under rehabilitation now and will be let free by the Forest Department.

Asian Koels, like all birds of cuckoo family, do not make their own nests and lay eggs in crow’s nest. Asian Koel is a schedule bird listed under Schedule IV of Indian Wildlife Protection Act 1972, Mr. Saleem said.