Ashy Drongo
A species of Drongos Scientific name : Dicrurus leucophaeus Genus : Drongos
Ashy Drongo, A species of Drongos
Botanical name: Dicrurus leucophaeus
Genus: Drongos
Content
Description People often ask General Info
Description
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. 
Size
29 cm
Colors
Brown
Black
Green
Gray
Feeding Habits
Ashy Drongo feeds predominantly on flying insects, including dragonflies, moths, and beetles. It also consumes winged termites, ants, grasshoppers, and insect larvae. Occasionally, ashy Drongo supplements its diet with nectar, small lizards, and even small mammals, demonstrating its opportunistic feeding behavior.
Habitat
Ashy Drongo predominantly reside in forest environments, favoring open and mountainous regions. These birds are adaptable to a range of wooded habitats, including rainforests, mixed pine-oak-rhododendron forests, and bamboo jungles. Ashy Drongo breed at various altitudes, from lower foothills up to 3000 meters, depending on the region. In certain areas, they may inhabit open grasslands, rural village surroundings, and even well-forested terrains. Habitually associated with cultivated and wooded hill territories, ashy Drongo also thrive in mangroves, beach scrubs, agricultural plantations, forest edges, and parklands, usually at lower elevations. They are common in secondary growths and cultivated spaces across various Southeast Asian islands and are known to adapt to urban garden settings as well.
Dite type
Insectivorous
People often ask
General Info
Behavior
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. They are found singly, in pairs or small groups. During migration they fly in small flocks. A common call that they make is described as drangh gip or gip-gip-drangh. They can imitate the calls of other birds and are capable of imitating the whistling notes of a common iora. 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.
Distribution Area
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) 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. In winter, the species is particularly fond of hill forests. 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) 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.
Species Status
Not globally threatened.
Scientific Classification
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