The Asian koel like many of its related cuckoo kin is a brood parasite that lays its eggs in the nests of crows and other hosts, who raise its young.

[6][additional citation(s) needed] In 1747, the English naturalist George Edwards included an illustration and a description of the Asian koel in the second volume of his A Natural History of Uncommon Birds.

Edwards based his hand-coloured etching on a specimen from Bengal that belonged to the London silk-pattern designer and naturalist Joseph Dandridge.

[7] When in 1758 the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus updated his Systema Naturae for the tenth edition, he placed the Asian koel with the other cuckoos in the genus Cuculus.

Linnaeus included a brief description, coined the binomial name Cuculus scolopaceus and cited Edwards' work.

[8] The Asian koel is now placed in the genus Eudynamys that was introduced in 1827 by the English naturalists Nicholas Vigors and Thomas Horsfield.

Due to differences in plumage, colour of bill and voice, the three are increasingly treated as separate species.

The following is a list of named subspecies with their distributions and synonyms as given by Payne:[16] The Asian koel is a large and long-tailed cuckoo measuring 39–46 cm (15–18 in) and weighing 190–327 g (6.7–11.5 oz).

[20] They are very vocal during the breeding season (March to August in the Indian Subcontinent), with a range of different calls.

[25] In Bangladesh, they parasitise long-tailed shrike (Lanius schach), common myna (Acridotheres tristis) and house crows (Corvus splendens) at about 35.7, 31.2 and 10.8% rates respectively.

[26] Host nests at low heights and nearer to fruit trees tended to be preferred by koels.

[27] In southern Thailand and the Malay Peninsula, koels have shifted host from crows to mynas (Acridotheres sp.)

The young koel does not always push out eggs or evict the host chicks, and initially calls like a crow.

[41] A small parasite may not be able to evict large host eggs or chicks from a deep Corvid nest without risking starvation and possibly accidental self-eviction.

[41] Adult female parents have been known to feed young koels in the nests of the hosts,[42][43] a behaviour seen in some other brood parasitic species as well.

[58] The Vedas, Sanskrit literature dated to about 2000 BC referred to it as Anya-Vapa which has been translated as "that which was raised by others" (or "sown for others to reap"[59]).