Square-tailed Drongo
Dicrurus ludwigii
Small drongo with a slightly notched tail. Found in open forest, thick woodland, and thickets. Not as bold or conspicuous as the common Fork-tailed Drongo. Often in pairs. Song is an explosive and highly variable mix of whistles, squeals, and rasps. Similar to Velvet-mantled and Fork-tailed drongos, but with a much less forked tail. Very similar to Shining Drongo, but Square-tailed has less glossy plumage, a redder eye, and prefers drier habitats. Distinguished from black-flycatchers by heavier bill and red eye. Upright posture is unlike other all-black mid-sized birds.
Taxonomy
The square-tailed drongo was described by the Scottish zoologist Andrew Smith in 1834 from birds observed around Port Natal (now Durban) in South Africa. He coined the binomial name Edolius ludwigii. The specific epithet was chosen to honour the German botanist Baron von Ludwig who collected plants in South Africa between 1805 and 1847. It is now placed with the other drongos in the genus Dicrurus that was introduced by the French ornithologist Louis Pierre Vieillot in 1816. Based on the results of a molecular phylogenetic study published in 2018, the taxonomy of the square-tailed drongo complex was reorganised. Sharpe's drongo which had previously been treated as a subspecies of Dicrurus ludwigii was promoted to species rank becoming Dicrurus sharpei. But those birds previously in Dicrurus ludwigii sharpei occurring between Senegal and the Niger River were considered as a separate species, the western square-tailed drongo (Dicrurus occidentalis).<p>Four subspecies are recognised:
- Scientific name
- Dicrurus ludwigii
- Authority
- (Smith, A, 1834)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Dicruridae
- Genus
- Dicrurus
Range and habitat
- Migration
- Resident species
Conservation
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Bird Calls
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