The summer breeze sways the flowers blooming on the lignum tree outside our bedroom window. When the house is quiet with just the ceiling fan whirring, we can hear leaves rustling outside and Minal loves to stand beside the window and wait for the koels to appear on the branches. On our third afternoon, Minal sees the female koel (speckled brown and yellow) sitting on a nearby branch and singing her song koo-oo. A little while later, a male koel (black) joins her with a berry in his beak, and they exchange a bite and something that Minal insists was a kiss.

We now start every morning waiting for the two birds with bright red eyes and an echoing song to eat outside our window. I am struck by the fact that I never knew—until now—that all koels have red eyes and that the males and females are so strikingly different and beautiful.