Crow adopts Koel Chicks!

Yesterday I heard unusual chirping or screeching from outside and I moved to check what was happening on but I saw an amazing scene I ever seen or known before.  There was a Koel Chick perched to the Gulmohar tree in front of our house and a Crow sitting next to it; and apart wondering from where this Koel chick came all of sudden with no sign of it emerging around, I puzzled by their behavior.

First I felt very sorry for the Koel chick thinking that it got trapped by a crow and was struggling to escape from its piercing bite; but only observing carefully I found that the crow was treating the chick. It was the scene continued even today with another male chick joining the feast, but their behavior doesn’t look so kind for me even  I watch closely that the crow drop its beak into the chicks mouth holding something.

I couldn’t come out of amaze after coming across this sight and as I know Koels or Cuckoos lay their eggs on crow’s nest but the behavior of crow truly mesmerize me with its attitude toward the Koel chicks and feeding them as their very own. For just the reason of eggs found on their nest, how come the crow adopt the Koel chicks or is it the color that resembles the crow took them easily under their shelter, crows simply seize me to amaze.

It is told that Koel chicks grow very fast, so it took some time to confess me that they are not the adult Koels which reside among our neighborhood. There are couples of paired Koel in our area that they all rarely come around together, but I got to capture them at many occasion and this is first time for me on their chicks. I couldn’t capture the moment of crow feeding the koel and the photos above were on the male koel chick – mouth widely open, which was the only indication, identified me the chicks.