Dicrurus leucophaeus

Life-forms

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Cladus: Unikonta
Cladus: Opisthokonta
Cladus: Holozoa
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Superphylum: Deuterostomia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Infraphylum: Gnathostomata
Megaclassis: Osteichthyes
Cladus: Sarcopterygii
Cladus: Rhipidistia
Cladus: Tetrapodomorpha
Cladus: Eotetrapodiformes
Cladus: Elpistostegalia
Superclassis: Tetrapoda
Cladus: Reptiliomorpha
Cladus: Amniota
Classis: Reptilia
Cladus: Eureptilia
Cladus: Romeriida
Subclassis: Diapsida
Cladus: Sauria
Infraclassis: Archosauromorpha
Cladus: Crurotarsi
Divisio: Archosauria
Cladus: Avemetatarsalia
Cladus: Ornithodira
Subtaxon: Dinosauromorpha
Cladus: Dinosauriformes
Cladus: Dracohors
Cladus: Dinosauria
Ordo: Saurischia
Cladus: Eusaurischia
Subordo: Theropoda
Cladus: Neotheropoda
Cladus: Averostra
Cladus: Tetanurae
Cladus: Avetheropoda
Cladus: Coelurosauria
Cladus: Tyrannoraptora
Cladus: Maniraptoromorpha
Cladus: Maniraptoriformes
Cladus: Maniraptora
Cladus: Pennaraptora
Cladus: Paraves
Cladus: Eumaniraptora
Cladus: Avialae
Infraclassis: Aves
Cladus: Euavialae
Cladus: Avebrevicauda
Cladus: Pygostylia
Cladus: Ornithothoraces
Cladus: Ornithuromorpha
Cladus: Carinatae
Parvclassis: Neornithes
Cohors: Neognathae
Cladus: Neoaves
Cladus: Telluraves
Cladus: Australaves
Ordo: Passeriformes
Subordo: Passeri
Infraordo: Corvida
Superfamilia: Corvoidea

Familia: Dicruridae
Genus: Dicrurus
Species: Dicrurus leucophaeus
Subspecies: D. l. batakensis – D. l. bondi – D. l. celaenus – D. l. hopwoodi – D. l. innexus – D. l. leucogenis – D. l. leucophaeus – D. l. longicaudatus – D. l. mouhoti – D. l. nigrescens – D. l. periophthalmicus – D. l. phaedrus – D. l. salangensis – D. l. siberu – D. l. stigmatops
Name

Dicrurus leucophaeus Vieillot, 1817
References

Vieillot, L.J.P. 1817. Nouveau Dictionnaire d’Histoire naturelle, appliquée aux arts, à l'agriculture, à l'économie rurale et domestique, à la médecine, etc. Par une société de naturalistes et d'agriculteurs. Avec des figures tirées des trois règnes de la nature. Tome 9. 624 pp. + 7 tt. Déterville, Paris. p. 587 BHL Reference page. .

Vernacular names
brezhoneg: Drongo louet
Deutsch: Graudrongo
English: Ashy Drongo
español: Drongo cenizo
فارسی: بوجانگای خاکستری
suomi: Tuhkadrongo
français: Drongo cendré
magyar: Szürke drongó
Bahasa Indonesia: Srigunting kelabu
മലയാളം: കാക്കത്തമ്പുരാൻ
Bahasa Melayu: Burung Cecawi Rantau
မြန်မာဘာသာ: လုံးမြီးဆွဲ
Nederlands: Grijze drongo
русский: Серый дронго
svenska: Grå drongo
தமிழ்: கரிச்சான்
ไทย: นกแซงแซวสีเทา
Tiếng Việt: Chèo bẻo xám
中文: 灰卷尾

The ashy drongo (Dicrurus leucophaeus) is a species of bird in the drongo family Dicruridae. It is found widely distributed across South and Southeast Asia with several populations that vary in the shade of grey, migration patterns and in the size or presence of white patches around the eye.
Description
Subspecies salangensis from Thailand
Front view

The adult ashy drongo is mainly dark grey, and the tail is long and deeply forked, There are a number of subspecies varying in the shade of the grey plumage. Some subspecies have white markings on the head. Young birds are dull brownish grey.

Subspecies longicaudatus of India (which includes beavani of the Himalayas that winters on the peninsula, with one breeding population in central India that Vaurie separates as longicaudatus in the restricted sense) is very dark and almost like the black drongo although this bird is slimmer and has a somewhat longer and less-splayed tail. It is found in more tall forest habitat, has dark grey underside lacking the sheen of black drongo. The iris is crimson and there is no white rictal spot. Subspecies leucogenis and salangensis have a white eye-patch as do several of the island forms that breed further south. The calls are a little more nasal and twangy than that of the black drongo.[3]
Distribution

The ashy drongo breeds in the hills of tropical southern Asia from eastern Afghanistan east to southern China, Ryukyu Islands in southern Japan (particularly Okinawa) and Indonesia. Many populations in the northern part of its range are migratory. Charles Vaurie described subspecies beavani (after Robert Cecil Beavan[4]) as the population that breeds along the Himalayas that wintered in peninsular India. However, later workers include this as part of longicaudatus which also has a population that breeds in central India.[3] In winter, the species is particularly fond of hill forests.[5] E. C. Stuart Baker described stevensi which Vaurie considered as being either beavani or hopwoodi of the eastern Himalayas. To the east of the range of hopwoodi is mouhouti of Thailand and Myanmar. To the north of this range are leucogenis and salangensis (both migratory mainly to areas further south but also known from Nagaland[6]) while bondi is found to the south. Along the southeast Asian island chain, there are number of insular populations including periophthalmus, ryukyuensis, batakensis, phaedrus, siberu and nigrescens. The nominate form is said to be found on Simalur, Java, Bali, Lombok, Palawan, and Balabac Islands.[2]
Behaviour and ecology

The ashy drongo has short legs and sits very upright while perched prominently, often high on a tree. It is insectivorous and forages by making aerial sallies but sometimes gleans from tree trunks.[7] They are found singly, in pairs or small groups. During migration they fly in small flocks.[5]

A common call that they make is described as drangh gip or gip-gip-drangh.[5] They can imitate the calls of other birds and are capable of imitating the whistling notes of a common iora.[8]

The breeding season is May to June with a clutch of three or four reddish or brown eggs laid in a loose cup nest in a tree.[5][9]
References

BirdLife International (2016). "Dicrurus leucophaeus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016: e.T22706964A94099735. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22706964A94099735.en. Retrieved 13 November 2021.
Vaurie, Charles (1949). "A revision of the bird family Dicruridae". Bulletin of the AMNH. 93 (4): 203–342. hdl:2246/1240.
Rasmussen, PC & JC Anderton (2005). Birds of South Asia: The Ripley guide. Volume 2. Smithsonian Institution & Lynx Edicions. p. 590.
Beavan, RC (1868). "[Letter to the editor]". Ibis. 10: 497. doi:10.1111/j.1474-919X.1868.tb06134.x.
Whistler, Hugh (1949). Popular Handbook of Indian Birds. Edition 4. Gurney and Jackson, London. pp. 158–159.
Das, PK (1965). "The Whitecheeked Drongo [Dicrurus leucophaeus salangensis (Reichenow)]: an addition to the Indian avifauna". J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 62 (3): 557–558.
Santharam, V (1999). "Birds foraging on tree trunks". J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 96 (3): 468–469.
Khacher, Lavkumar (1997). "Mimicry by Grey Drongo Dicrurus leucophaeus". J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 94 (3): 569.

Ali, S & SD Ripley (1986). Handbook of the birds of India and Pakistan. Vol. 5 (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press. pp. 119–122.

External links