Family Drongos (Dicruridae)
Least Concern
Bronzed Drongo (Dicrurus aeneus)
Taxonomy
French: Drongo bronzé German: Bronzedrongo Spanish: Drongo bronceado
Taxonomy:
Dicrurus œneus
[sic] Vieillot
, 1817,India
.
Subspecies and Distribution
D. a. aeneus
Vieillot, 1817 – Indian Subcontinent (Himalayan foothills E from Uttarakhand, S through hills of Bangladesh to Eastern Ghats, and Western Ghats S from R Tapti), SE Asia (S to C Peninsular Malaysia), and S China (SE Xizang, W & SW Yunnan, S Guangxi, Hainan).
D. a. braunianus
(Swinhoe, 1863) – interior mountains of Taiwan.
D. a. malayensis
(Blyth, 1846) – C Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra and Borneo.
Descriptive notes
22–24 cm; 22–30 g. A small drongo with glossy plumage, well-forked tail, and very depressed and flattened bill; feathers of crown, hindneck and upper breast long... read more
Voice
Noisy and demonstrative during breeding season, less so otherwise; reported as singing on moonlit... read more
Habitat
Occupies all kinds of forest or wooded habitats (except sometimes the deepest and wettest):... read more
Food and feeding
Mainly insectivorous; prey include flies (Diptera), Hymenoptera and Lepidoptera. Reported as consuming flower nectar. Hunts in canopy... read more
Breeding
Season mainly Apr–May, but also in Feb in SW India (Kerala), Mar in Nepal and to Jun in N India (Sikkim). Nest built by both parents... read more
Movements
Resident; in highest parts of range, e.g. in Nepal, generally makes post-breeding descent to lower... read more
Status and conservation
Not globally threatened. Common and widespread in most of range. Fairly common in Himalayan area; common in Western Ghats, and locally common in Bangladesh; the most common... read more
Formerly placed in monospecific Chaptia. Clear trend of decreasing size from N to S. Nominate race intergrades with malayensis in C Peninsular Malaysia (Pahang and N Selangor). Original spelling “oeneus” is emended to “aeneus” based on internal evidence#R. Three subspecies recognized.