Alternative names: Pale Drongo, Grey Drongo
- Dicrurus leucophaeus
Identification
Photo © by aloktewari
Hill Station Dalhousie, Himachal Pradesh, India, July 2012
Size: 25·5–29 cm (10-11½ in). A variable drongo:
- Relatively long and narrow-splayed tail
- Bright red eyes
- Mostly grey body plumage but highly variable from pale grey to almost black. See below for subspecies variations.
- No Rictal spot
Sexes alike, females are slightly smaller than males. Juveniles are browner than adult with some white fringing on belly to undertail-coverts.
Similar species
Especially longicaudatus and nigrescens can be confused with Black Drongo but note brighter red eye, longer tail and the absence of a rictal spot.
Distribution
 |
Breeding in the Himalayas from east Afghanistan east over India, Nepal, Bhutan and China through south-east Asia to Sumatra, Java, Borneo, Bali, Lombok and southwest Philippines. Northern populations winter south to tropical latitudes. |
| Legend • all year |
Taxonomy
Subspecies
Photo © by darwin1601
Mt. Kinabalu, Sabah, BorneoMay 2016
Clements recognizes these subspecies[1]:
- D. l. longicaudatus: Eastern Afghanistan to Sikkim; winters to southern India and Sri Lanka (Indian Grey Drongo)
- head and upperparts almost black, long and deeply forked tail
- D. l. hopwoodi: Eastern Himalayas to Burma and southern China; winters to Indochina and eastern India (Assam Grey Drongo)
- unglossed blue-grey, but variable in size and colour
- D. l. nigrescens: Mangrove forests in extreme southern Myanmar, southern Thailand and Peninsular Malaysia (Burmese Grey Drongo)
- plumage is black with slight gloss above and darker below. Resembles Black Drongo in shape andd proportions but is never as black.
- blue grey above and pale soft ashy grey below, ear-coverts lighter grey
- D. l. celaenus: Simeulue Island (off northwest Sumatra)
- D. l. bondi: Western and eastern Thailand, southern Laos, Cambodia, and southern Vietnam
- like mouhoti but smaller and paler
- Ashy grey plumage. dark on throat and underparts with velvety dark frontal band and blackish chin
- pale ashy grey with white cheek patch, including area surrounding eyes.
- resembles leucogenis but white is confined to area surrounding eye.
- D. l. innexus: Hainan (southern China) (Hainan Grey Drongo)
- heavier and deeper bill than all other subspecies, lores and ear-coverts more or less whitish
- D. l. periophthalmicus: Mentawi Islands (off west-central Sumatra)
- pale blue grey like nominate but with large white facial patch
- D. l. siberu: Siberut Island (off west-central Sumatra)
- slightly darker than periophthalmicus
- D. l. batakensis: Northern Sumatra
- similar to phaedrus but a little darker with grey lores
- D. l. phaedrus: Southern Sumatra
- similar to stigmatops but with smaller white loral spot
- D. l. stigmatops: Mountains of northern Borneo
- similar to mouhoti but smaller and eye orange-red, white of lores extends around eye
Habitat
Mangroves, beach scrub, plantation, the forest edges, wooded gardens. Much more confined to forest than Black Drongo. Occurs up to 3000m in the Himalayas.
Behaviour
Diet
Found on exposed perch from which it hawks for flying insects, takes sometimes also small vertebrates. Also dives and climbs while pursuing insects in mid-air.
Breeding
Breeding season May to June in the Himalayas, April to June in China, March to May in Sumatra. A territorial species, acting aggressively towards possible predators.
The nest is a shallow cup made of vegetable fibres like rootlets, grass stems or leaves. It's placed usually high up in a tree. Lays 2 - 4 eggs.
Vocalisation
Distinct series of mewing calls. The different subspecies have different songs.
Recording © by Alok Tewari
Subspecies D. l. longicaudatus
Bird sitting in front of me, at the forest-edge, and calling.
Sat Tal Forest, Alt. 5500 ft., Dist. Nainital, Uttarakhand Himalayas, India. 4 April 2019.
References
- Clements, J. F., P. C. Rasmussen, T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, T. A. Fredericks, J. A. Gerbracht, D. Lepage, A. Spencer, S. M. Billerman, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2023. The eBird/Clements checklist of Birds of the World: v2023. Downloaded from https://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Gill, F, D Donsker, and P Rasmussen (Eds). 2024. IOC World Bird List (v 14.2). Doi 10.14344/IOC.ML.14.2. http://www.worldbirdnames.org/
- Del Hoyo, J, A Elliott, and D Christie, eds. 2009. Handbook of the Birds of the World. Volume 14: Bush-shrikes to Old World Sparrows. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions. ISBN 978-8496553507
- Rasmussen, PC and JC Anderton. 2005. Birds of South Asia: The Ripley Guide. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions. ISBN 978-8487334672
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Ashy Drongo. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 3 December 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Ashy_Drongo
External Links
GSearch checked for 2020 platform.1
