Greater Racket-tailed Drongo

Greater Racket-tailed Drongo

     Introduction of Greater Racket-tailed Drongo

        Greater racket-tailed drongo (Scientific name: Dicrurus paradiseus) is a medium-sized Asian bird which is distinctive in having elongated outer tail feathers with webbing restricted to the tips.It is included in the Order Passeriformes and Family is Dicruridae

       How to Identify Greater Racket-tailed Drongo

      Greater racket-tailed drongo's males and females are look alike. It  weighs from 70 to 125 grams and length of body are 31 to 36 centimeters  not including their elongated tail feathers. The color of body is glossy black with shades of blue and green. Eyes are reddish-brown. The wings and the tuft on the top of the head are green with a hint of pale yellow on the very tips of the wings. This species are easily identifiable by the distinctive two  ‘racket’ tipped feathers that extend beyond the tail and the crest of curled feather that begin in front of the face above the beak and along the crown.
      Young birds are duller, and can lack a crest while moulting birds can lack the elongate tail streamers. The racket is formed by the inner web of the vane but appears to be on the outer web since the rachis has a twist just above the spatula.

                 Distribution

       Greater racket-tailed drongos are found throughout Southeast Asia. They are found in India, east of Bangladesh and south of the Himalayas. They are also found in southern China, on the island of Hainan, and in parts of Indonesia.
          Subspecies
    This widespread species includes populations that have distinct variations and several subspecies have been named. There are 13 recognized subspecies
     D. p. grandis  – This subspecies found along the  north India through west and north Myanmar and south China to north Indochina.  It  is  the largest and has long glossy neck hackles.
     D. p. rangoonensis – Found in Central India through Bangladesh, central Myanmar and north Thailand to central Indochina
     D. p. paradiseus  – Found in southern India, mainly in forested areas of the Western Ghats and the adjoining hill forests of peninsular India.
     D. p. johni  – Found in Hainan Island (off southeast China)
     D. p. ceylonicus  – Similar to the D. p. paradiseus  but slightly smaller. Found in Sri Lanka.
     D. p. otiosus  – This subspecies  has shorter neck hackles and the crest is highly reduced. Found in  Andaman Islands.
     D. p. nicobariensis  – This subspecies has a longer frontal crest and with smaller neck hackles than otiosus. Found in Nicobar Islands
    D. p. hypoballus  – This subspecies found in central Malay Peninsula
    D. p. platurus  – This subspecies found in south Malay Peninsula, Sumatra and nearby islands
    D. p. microlophus – Crests are very reduced. This subspecies found in islands in the South China Sea (Tioman Island, Anambas Islands and the North Natuna Islands)
    D. p. brachyphorus  – This subspecies found in Borneo
    D. p. banguey  – This subspecies  has frontal feathers that arch forwards. It is found in islands off north Borneo
    D. p. formosus  – This subspecies found in Java

        Habits and Habitats

     Greater racket-tailed drongos are usually found  in pairs or in small groups. But they are also found in mixed hunting flocks specially with Jungle Babbler. They are very territorial. Their flying style are similar to that of other drongos (Dicruridae) which includes a lot of dipping with short spurts of flapping followed by a period of gliding. The ‘rackets’ on the end of the tail make the bird’s flight excessively noisy and make a persistent humming noise.
     Having short legs, they sit upright and are often perched on high and exposed branches. Like other drongos, they catch their prey in mid-air or pick them off of surfaces. They are aggressive and will sometimes mob larger birds especially when nesting. They are often active at dusk.
    Greater racket-tailed drongos inhabit a wide variety of habitats. They are  found in moist deciduous forests, in the low hills of the Himalayas and also in wide-open plains. Populations are most dense in the foothills of the Himalayas extends from the western Himalayas to the eastern Himalayas and Mishmi Hills.They can be found from sea level to 2,000 meters.
             Food 
       Greater racket-tailed drongos feed mainly on insects but also feed on fruits and visit flowering trees for nectar.  Insects includes in their food list are ants, bees, beetles, dragonflies, locusts,  moths, and termites.
           Call
       Greater racket-tailed drongos have a large repertoire of calls that consist of bell-like notes, whistles, warbles, and metallic sounding calls that are typical of most drongos. Greater racket-tailed drongos are convincing mimics, which is useful when traveling in the mixed hunting flocks in which they are usually found.
       Their calls are extremely varied and include monotonously repeated whistles, metallic and nasal sounds as well as more complex notes and imitations of other birds. They begin calling from  early morning  often with a metallic tunk-tunk-tunk series. They have an ability to accurately mimic alarm calls of other birds. A special alarm note is raised in the presence of Shikras that has been transcribed as a loud 'kwei-kwei-kwei...shee-cuckoo-sheecuckoo-sheecuckoo'.  They have been said to imitate raptor calls so as to alarm other birds and steal prey from them in the ensuing panic. They are also known to imitate the calls of species that typically are members of mixed-species flocks such as babblers.

           Breeding and Nesting

         Greater racket-tailed drongos form monogamous pairs during breeding season. There is some evidence that young help with raising subsequent broods as well.
        Breeding season of Greater racket-tailed drongos are from March to June but there is a variation in the breeding season in different localities. Birds found in the northern parts of their range tend to mate  in the season, between June and July. Populations in more southern, tropical regions tend to mate  around February.
        Their courtship display may involve hops and turns on branches with play behaviour involving dropping an object and picking it in mid air.
        Greater racket-tailed drongos build a saucer-like nest on trees at a horizontal fork of two branches. They are made of intricately intertwined roots and leaves with fine materials lining the inside. They are held together with cobwebs and camouflaged with lichens. The usual clutch  is three to four eggs. The eggs are creamy white with blotches of reddish brown which are more dense on the broad end.
      Both the male and female share the nesting duties, constructing the nest, incubation, and rearing young birds. Parents also continue to watch over their young even after they leave the nest.