Dicrurus leucophaeus
Silhouette: Ferran Sayol · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~40% in a week ~70%
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.
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... Wikipedia →
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Gardens | 🇨🇳 China | |
| 2 | Edward Youde Aviary | 🇭🇰 Hong Kong SAR China |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report an Ashy Drongo sighting in Kozhikode on a given day, based on 270 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 48th most-seen of the 229 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 40%, and over a week to about 70%, if each day is a fresh chance.
January, March and November
In those months about 30% of wildlife watchers report an Ashy Drongo in Kozhikode on a given day, against under 5% in May to September, the lowest months. Those are among Kozhikode's driest months, with about 55 mm of rain a month against 390 mm in June.
Between 3 and 6 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Ashy Drongo sightings with a recorded time, and about half of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is most active around dawn and dusk.
11th of 67
Of the 67 cities where we can rate Ashy Drongo sightings, Kozhikode ranks 11th at about 10%. The best odds are in Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam, about 40%), Bangkok (Thailand, about 30%) and Jabalpur (India, about 20%).
Same genus: Dicrurus
The closest relatives of the Ashy Drongo that you can see in Kozhikode (genus Dicrurus, Drongos) are Greater Racket-tailed Drongo (about 40%), Black Drongo (about 30%) and Bronzed Drongo (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Ashy Drongo is recorded against all the birds logged in Kozhikode (270 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
