{{Short description|Species of bird}} {{Speciesbox | image = Ashy drongo in Latpanchar April 2024 by Tisha Mukherjee 01.jpg | image_caption = ''Dicrurus leucophaeus'' in Latpanchar (Darjeeling), West Bengal, India. | status = LC | status_system = IUCN3.1 | status_ref = <ref name="iucn status 13 November 2021">{{cite iucn |author=BirdLife International |date=2016 |title=''Dicrurus leucophaeus'' |volume=2016 |article-number=e.T22706964A94099735 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22706964A94099735.en |access-date=13 November 2021}}</ref> | genus = Dicrurus | species = leucophaeus | authority = Vieillot, 1817 | range_map = DicrurusLeucophaeusMap.svg | range_map_caption = Breeding ranges of the various races according to Vaurie, note that some subspecies are no longer considered valid<ref name=vaurie>{{cite journal|hdl=2246/1240|title=A revision of the bird family Dicruridae|journal= Bulletin of the AMNH|volume=93|issue=4|author=Vaurie, Charles|year=1949 |pages=203–342}}</ref> }}
The '''ashy drongo''' ('''''Dicrurus leucophaeus''''') is a species of bird in the drongo family Dicruridae. It is found widely distributed across eastern and Southeast Asia, with several populations that vary in the shade of grey, migration patterns and in the size or presence of white patches around the eye.
==Description== thumb|left|in Sarawak, Malaysia thumb|left|Subspecies ''salangensis'' from Thailand thumb|Front view The adult ashy drongo is mainly dark grey, and the tail is long and deeply forked, There are a number of subspecies varying in the shade of the grey plumage. Some subspecies have white markings on the head. Young birds are dull brownish grey.
Subspecies ''longicaudatus'' of India (which includes ''beavani'' of the Himalayas that winters on the peninsula, with one breeding population in central India that Vaurie separates as ''longicaudatus'' in the restricted sense) is very dark and almost like the black drongo although this bird is slimmer and has a somewhat longer and less-splayed tail. It is found in more tall forest habitat, has dark grey underside lacking the sheen of black drongo. The iris is crimson and there is no white rictal spot. Subspecies ''leucogenis'' and ''salangensis'' have a white eye-patch as do several of the island forms that breed further south. The calls are a little more nasal and twangy than that of the black drongo.<ref name=pcr>{{cite book|author=Rasmussen, PC|author2=JC Anderton|name-list-style=amp|year=2005|title=Birds of South Asia: The Ripley guide. Volume 2|publisher=Smithsonian Institution & Lynx Edicions|page=590}}</ref>
==Distribution== The ashy drongo breeds in the hills of tropical southern Asia from eastern Afghanistan east to southern China, Ryukyu Islands in southern Japan (particularly Okinawa) and Indonesia. Many populations in the northern part of its range are migratory. Charles Vaurie described subspecies ''beavani'' (after Robert Cecil Beavan<ref>{{cite journal|author=Beavan, RC|year=1868|title=[Letter to the editor]|journal=Ibis|page=497|url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/16342112| volume=10 |doi=10.1111/j.1474-919X.1868.tb06134.x}}</ref>) as the population that breeds along the Himalayas that wintered in peninsular India. However, later workers include this as part of ''longicaudatus'' which also has a population that breeds in central India.<ref name=pcr/> In winter, the species is particularly fond of hill forests.<ref name=whistler>{{cite book|author=Whistler, Hugh|year=1949|title=Popular Handbook of Indian Birds. Edition 4|pages=158–159|publisher=Gurney and Jackson, London|url=https://archive.org/stream/popularhandbooko033226mbp#page/n199/mode/2up}}</ref> E. C. Stuart Baker described ''stevensi'' which Vaurie considered as being either ''beavani'' or ''hopwoodi'' of the eastern Himalayas. To the east of the range of ''hopwoodi'' is ''mouhouti'' of Thailand and Myanmar. To the north of this range are ''leucogenis'' and ''salangensis'' (both migratory mainly to areas further south but also known from Nagaland<ref>{{cite journal|author=Das, PK |year=1965|title=The Whitecheeked Drongo [''Dicrurus leucophaeus salangensis'' (Reichenow)]: an addition to the Indian avifauna|journal= J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. |volume= 62|issue=3|pages=557–558|url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/47954032}}</ref>) while ''bondi'' is found to the south. Along the southeast Asian island chain, there are number of insular populations including ''periophthalmus'', ''ryukyuensis'', ''batakensis'', ''phaedrus'', ''siberu'' and ''nigrescens''. The nominate form is said to be found on Simalur, Java, Bali, Lombok, Palawan, and Balabac Islands.<ref name=vaurie/>
==Behaviour and ecology== thumb|Ashy drongo biting greater coucal in flight. The ashy drongo has short legs and sits very upright while perched prominently, often high on a tree. It is insectivorous and forages by making aerial sallies but sometimes gleans from tree trunks.<ref>{{cite journal|author=Santharam, V |year=1999|title=Birds foraging on tree trunks|journal=J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. |volume=96|issue=3|pages=468–469|url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/48583155}}</ref> They are found singly, in pairs or small groups. During migration they fly in small flocks.<ref name=whistler/>
A common call that they make is described as ''drangh gip'' or ''gip-gip-drangh''.<ref name=whistler/> They can imitate the calls of other birds and are capable of imitating the whistling notes of a common iora.<ref>{{cite journal|author=Khacher, Lavkumar |year=1997|title=Mimicry by Grey Drongo ''Dicrurus leucophaeus''|journal= J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc.|volume=94|issue=3|page=569|url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/48601947}}</ref>
The breeding season is May to June with a clutch of three or four reddish or brown eggs laid in a loose cup nest in a tree.<ref name=whistler/><ref name=hbk>{{cite book|author=Ali, S|author2=SD Ripley|name-list-style=amp| year=1986|volume=5 | edition=2nd| pages=119–122|title=Handbook of the birds of India and Pakistan|publisher=Oxford University Press}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist|2}}
==External links== {{Commons category|Dicrurus leucophaeus}} * [http://ibc.lynxeds.com/species/ashy-drongo-dicrurus-leucophaeus? Ashy drongo videos, photos & sounds] on the Internet Bird Collection
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Category:Drongos Category:Birds of the Himalayas Category:Birds of China Category:Birds of Southeast Asia Category:Wintering birds of South Asia Category:Birds described in 1817 Category:Taxa named by Louis Pierre Vieillot