Spangled Drongo

Spangled Drongo

OccasionalGBIF 10.1·Dongniao Rarity Index7.92

Dicrurus bracteatus· 卷尾科· Passeriformes

Spangled Drongo (Dicrurus bracteatus) 蓝点辉卷尾,是雀形目卷尾科卷尾属的鸟类。拥有黑色并带有金属光泽的羽毛和长而叉状的尾巴。分布于澳新界的印尼摩鹿加群岛、新几内亚、澳大利亚北部和东部、俾斯麦群岛以及所罗门群岛。其独特的外观和广泛分布使其成为该地区的显著物种。

Species Profile

IOC World Bird List

Spangled Drongo

Dicrurus bracteatus· Drongos

29-32 cm. Bill black, robust, with prominent hairlike feathers at base; eye bright red. An often frantically active black bird with large head and longish 'fishtail' (temporarily reduced when moulting); head/back dull black, wings/tail more glossy; subtle glossy green spots on crown/neck/upperbreast. Immature: dull smoky black, with brown eye, scattered white spots on underwing, undertail-coverts. Singles, pairs, migratory parties or open companies to 100+. Noisy, pugnacious; sits motionless, shrugs shoulders, flicks tail, dashes into air in pursuit of insects (or small birds); forages on trunks/limbs and in foliage; feeds on blossom nectar. Birds display facing one another, sides of crown raised in curious crest shape, wings spread. Flight swift, swooping, erratic. Courting males fly up c. 30 m; dive with wings arched back, tail cocked, calling.

Similar Species
Koel, male: pale bill; rounded tail. Manucode. Metallic Starling: smaller, glossier with pointed tail. Black Butcherbird: larger, with hooked blue-grey bill, tipped black; dark eye; straight tail.
Voice
harsh chatterings - tearing 'shashashash' while perched and in flight; strange metallic notes, some like a tight fence-wire being twanged. Mimics.
Habitat
rainforest, mostly at edges; isolated leafy trees in farmland; eucalypt forests/woodlands, paperbarks, coastal scrubs, mangroves; leafy trees on watercourses; roadsides, parks, gardens.
Breeding
Sept.-March; may return annually to same site.
Nest
delicate, deep basket of twigs, vine tendrils, spiders' web; slung in horizontal fork in outer foliage, 10-20 m high.
Eggs
3-5; pinkish or purplish white, blotched and with wavy streaks of pinkish red, brown, purple.
Range & Status
coastal n. and e. Aust. and coastal islands: from Kimberley (WA) through Top End (NT), s. to c. Katherine; e. to c. Oenpelli and NT Gulf Coast; e. Aust. from C. York Pen. (Q) coastally s. to Moruya-Batemans Bay (NSW); inland on Gt Divide to Carnarvon Ras. (Q)-Blue Mts (NSW). In NSW, s. to c. Macksville, it is a summer breeding migrant, arriving Sept.-Oct. to breed, many migrating n. through coastal Q in March-April, some crossing to PNG. S. of Macksville, it is a winter migrant, arriving c. March-April, departing c. Sept.-Oct. Casual e. Vic., w. to near Melbourne; vagrant n. Tas., SA, including Kangaroo I. Present all year in Kimberley (WA) and Top End (NT) (Blakers et al, 1984). Also Solomon Is., PNG, Indonesia to Malaysia and s. Asia.
Distribution key to races
1. Dicrurus bracteatus carbonarius 2. Dicrurus bracteatus baileyi 3. Dicrurus bracteatus atrabectus 4. Dicrurus bracteatus bracteatus