This cuckoo occurs on Sulawesi and the Sula Islands. Males are black with a blue-violet gloss, while females include several plumage types, including barred rusty-brown forms. Some taxonomies treat it as a separate species; others combine it with related koels.
Males have glossy blue-violet black plumage, a black bill and red eyes. Females are variable: some are dark with a blue-green gloss, while others show rusty-brown and black barring.
It feeds mainly on fruit in the canopy of moist lowland forest, and also takes insects and snails. It is a brood parasite; hosts recorded in the account include Sulawesi Crow and several other island birds.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.