White-bellied Drongo
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| Dicrurus caerulescens Linnaeus, 1758 |
The White-bellied Drongo , Dicrurus caerulescens, is a small Asian bird. The drongos are passerines restricted to the Old World tropics. They were previously classed as the family Dicruridae, but that has been much enlarged to include a number of largely Australasian groups, such as the Australasian fantails, monarchs and paradise flycatchers.
The White-bellied Drongo is a resident breeder in India and Sri Lanka. This species is usually found in open forest and well-wooded habitats. Two to four eggs are laid in a cup nest in a tree. These are aggressive and fearless birds, 24 cm in length, and will attack much larger species if their nest or young are threatened.
The adult White-bellied Drongo has dark grey upperparts, and the tail is long and deeply forked. The Indian race D. c. caerulescens has a pale grey underparts from the head to the breast, and is white from the belly down. One Sri Lankan race, D. c. leucopygialis, has the white on the underparts restricted to the vent area and undertail coverts. The young bird is duller and have a brownish grey breast.
The White-bellied Drongo has short legs and sits very upright whilst perched prominently, like a shrike. It is insectivorous.
[edit] References
- BirdLife International (2004). Dicrurus caerulescens. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 12 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern
- Birds of India by Grimmett, Inskipp and Inskipp, ISBN 0-691-04910-6
