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Fork-tailed Drongo-Cuckoo

Surniculus dicruroides

The fork-tailed drongo-cuckoo (Surniculus dicruroides) is a species of cuckoo that resembles a black drongo. It is found resident mainly in peninsular India in hill forests although some specimens are known from the Himalayan foothills. It can be easily distinguished by its straight beak and the white barred vent. It has a deeply forked tail often having a white spot on the back of the head. The song has been described as a series of 5 or 6 whistling "pip-pip-pip-pip-pip-" notes rising in pitch with each "pip". It is a brood parasite on small babblers. It is not known how or whether the drongo-like appearance benefits this species but it is suspected that it aids in brood-parasitism just as hawk-cuckoos appear like hawks. The species was described by Brian Hodgson from Nepal as Pseudornis dicruroides. It was later placed as a subspecies of Surniculus lugubris. In 2005 it was suggested that the species was should be split from the more narrowly defined square-tailed drongo-cuckoo Surniculus lugubris due to morphological and call differences.
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Fork-tailed Drongo-Cuckoos on Birda

Sightings

A map showing the sighting location
🐧
Filia Fayard
Sunday 04 Jun 2023 - 6:40am
Taiwan
A map showing the sighting location
🦉
Venkataraman Mahadevan
Tuesday 02 May 2023 - 2:08am
India
A map showing the sighting location
🦉
Venkataraman Mahadevan
Tuesday 02 May 2023 - 2:08am
India
A map showing the sighting location
🦢
Nishant Bhagwat
Sunday 26 Jun 2022 - 8:07am
India
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