Two schoolchildren from Chennai document Vadi Koel at Odiyur Lake

If the infallible Vijay Chatty is caught sitting at his flip-top desk talking to his classmates and the teacher is writing something on the board, there will probably be no rap for him. After all, he was born “Chatti”. If the Immortal spoke words where silence was demanded, the human world might forgive, his inevitable nickname coming to his rescue, making light of the situation, but the savage would not. The Class 10 student of PSBB Millennium School in Semmanchery apparently has to hide himself while looking for birds in the bushes, which he does in his spare time with two other Chatties – parents Sriram Chatty and Radhika Chatty.

On November 30, the three Chattys were looking for birds away from their stove. The destination was the huge Odiyur Lake on the East Coast Road (near Paramanakeni) on the way to Puducherry. The group of birds was indeed large which also included the non-chatti. And that day belonged to one of the Chattis – Amogh – and non-Chatti, Aditya S Rajesh.

A wadi koel at Odiyur lake on November 30, 2025, documented by Aditya S Rajesh. , Photo Courtesy: Aditya S Rajesh

The senior chatties had all their wheels to themselves. Being colleagues, Amogh (15) and Aditya (16) used to travel together in another set of wheels, a car driven by Aditya’s uncle. Aditya, who studies in class 11 at Maharshi Vidya Mandir Senior Secondary School in Chetpet, wears a different outfit from Amogh’s in school. During weekends, the boys have a normal uniform, consisting of camouflage fatigues. Both Adityas are members of the Madras Naturalists’ Society and their families introduced them to birds early on.

The purpose of the trip to Odiyur Lake was to see sea birds. Plans are rewriting themselves amidst the repeating patterns of life, bringing out highlights exactly opposite to what was anticipated. And for this one should be grateful. There are Amogh and Aditya. There were scenes of pelagics, but what dominated the boys’ excited conversation on the way back to Chennai was a land-laborer of a bird – a wadi cuckoo, which really had no business poking around Odaiyur Lake, in any part of South India. In India, this bird is seen in its north-eastern parts, until the “Jonathan Livingstone Seagull” appears unexpectedly among them.

Record of sighting of Wadi Koel on 30 November at Odiyur Lake on eBird. , Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

It was a joint scene in which both the boys were documenting the female wadi koel with their cameras. The bird was first seen through the window of a moving car. It was situated on a bush on the banks of Odaiyur Lake. As soon as the car stopped and parked, both of them started moving away and occupied it while also changing slips in the bushes.

The feather was different from anything he had seen before, but he had no name for it. Amogh says it was ID-ed as the Wadi Cuckoo through some online birding groups. “The experts consulted include Sunil Kumar Unni from Chennai, Aadesh Shivakar from Mumbai and Ashwin V from Bengaluru,” says Amogh. The record is available on eBird.

Umesh Mani, an experienced bird specialist and member of the Madras Naturalist Society, says on the rarity of the Wadi Koel in these parts: “The Wadi Koel is a bird of the north-east, and is rarely seen in the south – books show only occasional records. I have seen it only once in Chennai, about 10-12 years ago. It is certainly rare here, although I think this may partly be due to the fact that it is easily herpetological. Can be confused with the grey-bellied cuckoo (which is often seen here), especially if the underparts are not clearly visible.

There was a time when the grey-bellied cuckoo was considered a “cousin” of the valley cuckoo, treating it as a subspecies. It has been a long time since the grey-bellied cuckoo was separated from the wadi cuckoo family and given the status of a separate family.

In their identification notes, experts clearly discussed the characteristics that distinguish this female plaintive cuckoo from the female grey-bellied cuckoo.

Ashwin said: “The main thing is the forked tail. And there is generally stronger barring throughout, including the throat and breast. Also there is more rufous barring on the throat and breast than in the grey-bellied.”

Amogh shares the observations made by Sunil and Aadesh: “The tail has darker streaks and the underparts are less white, which points to a female (rufous) wadi cuckoo. The grey-bellied has a paler tail and the underparts are whiter. Also, the grey-bellied does not have the rufous wash on the throat (above the breast), whereas this bird does.”