Square-tailed drongo

Dicrurus ludwigii

TAXONOMY

Edolius ludwigii A. Smith, 1834, Port Natal = Durban, South Africa. Five subspecies.

OTHER COMMON NAMES

French: Drongo de Ludwig; German: Geradschwanzdrongo; Spanish: Drogo de Cola Cuadrada.

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS

7–7.5 in (18–19 cm); 0.8–1.3 oz (25–35 g). Smallest of drongos, plain headed, red-eyed, and all black, glossed purplish or green, with a characteristically short and squarish tail; females are similar to males or duller, and immatures dull in both sexes and speckled pale gray on mantle and breast.

DISTRIBUTION

Endemic to Africa where patchy in distribution: subspecies sharpei occurs in a narrow band through the west and central tropics from Guinea to Uganda, western Kenya, and other minor races in central Angola, Zambia-Zaire, southeast Somalia, eastern Tanzania, and coastal Mozambique to the southeast Cape Province.

HABITAT

Middle and lower strata of gallery forest, moist thicket, wooded glades, primary rainforest, and denser woodland from sea-level up to 6,600 ft (2,000 m) above sea level in the tropics. D. l. sharpei, in particular, keeps to gallery forests and woodlands around the fringe of primary rainforest, being replaced within by the shining drongo (D. atripennis).

BEHAVIOR

Usually permanently territorial, in pairs or family groups. Though more retiring than other African drongos, it still forages by sallying, sits on exposed vantage perches with tail drooped and twitched from side to side, defends nest pugnaciously, and calls often and rather loudly: repeated single-note upslurred or down-slurred whistles and buzzes. Song duets are a quiet and rapidly delivered medley of short whistles and liquid chattery notes.

FEEDING ECOLOGY AND DIET

Aerial insectivore, often accompanying foraging bands of mixed species of birds. Diet mainly of rather large insects: moths, grasshoppers, mantids, and beetles; also exploits termite emergences.

REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY

Breeds April through November north of equator and September through April in south. Nest a small, neat saucer of lichen and dry stems bound thickly with cobweb at rim, 2.9 in diameter × 1 in deep (75 mm × 25 mm), suspended by rim in horizontal fork at branchlet extremity 6.6–26 ft (2–8 m) above ground; eggs two to three per clutch, 0.8–0.9 × 0.6–0.7 in (20–23 × 15–16.5 mm), white to pale buff, spotted with lilac and brown, mostly at larger end.

CONSERVATION STATUS

Not threatened.

SIGNIFICANCE TO HUMANS

None known.

Square-tailed Drongo
Conservation status
Least Concern
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Aves Order: Passeriformes Family: Dicruridae Genus: Dicrurus Species: D. ludwigii
Binomial name
Dicrurus ludwigii Smith, 1834

The Square-tailed Drongo, Dicrurus ludwigii, is a drongo. The drongos are small passerine birds of 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 Square-tailed Drongo is a common resident breeder in much of Africa south of the Sahara. These insect-eating birds are usually found in forests or dense bush. Two to three eggs are laid in a cup nest in a fork high in a tree.

These are aggressive and fearless birds, given their small size, at 19 cm, and will attack much larger species if their nest or young are threatened.

The male is mainly glossy black, although the wings are duller. The female is similar but less glossy. The bill is black and heavy, and the eye is red.

This species is similar to the Fork-tailed Drongo, but is smaller, and the shorter tail lacks the deep fork which gives the latter species its name. Fork-tailed is also typically found in more open habitat.

The Square-tailed Drongo has short legs and sits very upright whilst perched prominently, like a shrike. It flycatches or take prey from the ground.

The call is a harsh cherit-cherit.

References

• BirdLife International (2004). Dicrurus ludwigii. 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 The Gambia by Barlow, Wacher and Disley, ISBN 1-873403-32-1

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