Dicrurus hottentottus
Silhouette: Ferran Sayol · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~80% in a week >90%
The hair-crested drongo (Dicrurus hottentottus) is an Asian bird of the family Dicruridae. This species was formerly considered conspecific with Dicrurus bracteatus, for which the name "spangled drongo" – formerly used for both – is now usually reserved. Some authorities include the Sumatran drongo (D. sumatranus) in D. hottentottus as subspecies.
It is native from Pakistan, Bangladesh, India, and Bhutan through Indochina to China, Indonesia, and Brunei. Hair-crested drongos move in small flocks and are very noisy. The "spangled drongo", Dicrurus bracteatus, is native on the east coast of Australia and its name is a pejorative slang for a silly person. This may be due to its strange chattering and cackling.
In 1760, French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson included a description of the hair-crested drongo in his Ornithologie based on a specimen that he mistakenly believed had been collected from the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa. He used the French name Le choucas du Cap de Bonne Espérance and the Latin Monedula Capitis Bonae Spei. Although Brisson coined Latin names, these do not conform to the binomial system and are not recognised by the International Commission... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tangkoko Nature Reserve | 🇮🇩 Indonesia | |
| 2 | Kaeng Krachan National Park | 🇹🇭 Thailand | |
| 3 | Khao Yai National Park | 🇹🇭 Thailand | |
| 4 | Kinabalu Park | 🇲🇾 Malaysia | |
| 5 | Manas National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 6 | Kaziranga National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 7 | Royal Manas National Park | 🇧🇹 Bhutan | |
| 8 | Royal Bardia National Park | 🇳🇵 Nepal | |
| 9 | Jim Corbett National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 10 | Chitwan National Park | 🇳🇵 Nepal | |
| 11 | Doi Inthanon National Park | 🇹🇭 Thailand | |
| 12 | Namdapha National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 13 | Bali Barat National Park | 🇮🇩 Indonesia | |
| 14 | Cat Tien National Park | 🇻🇳 Vietnam | |
| 15 | Kanha National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 16 | Nagarhole National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 17 | Cuc Phuong National Park | 🇻🇳 Vietnam | |
| 18 | Bandhavgarh National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 19 | Satpura National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 20 | Sepilok | 🇲🇾 Malaysia | |
| 21 | Sundarbans National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 22 | Danum Valley Conservation Area | 🇲🇾 Malaysia | |
| 23 | Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary | 🇲🇾 Malaysia |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dehradun | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 2 | Guwahati | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 3 | Tuen Mun | 🇨🇳 China | |
| 4 | Hefei | 🇨🇳 China | |
| 5 | Yangon | 🇲🇲 Myanmar | |
| 6 | Chandigarh | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 7 | Chattogram | 🇧🇩 Bangladesh | |
| 8 | Guangzhou | 🇨🇳 China | |
| 9 | Jammu | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 10 | Wuhan | 🇨🇳 China |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Macau Zoo | 🇲🇴 Macao SAR China |
Likely
About 50% of wildlife watchers report a Hair-crested Drongo sighting in Khao Yai National Park on a given day, based on 1,234 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 14th most-seen of the 278 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 80%, and over a week to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
January
In that month about 70% of wildlife watchers report a Hair-crested Drongo in Khao Yai National Park on a given day, against about 10% in June, the lowest month. That is one of Khao Yai National Park's driest months, with about 20 mm of rain against 330 mm in September.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Hair-crested Drongo sightings with a recorded time, and about 6 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is most active around dawn and dusk.
3rd of 23
Of the 23 parks where we can rate Hair-crested Drongo sightings, Khao Yai National Park ranks 3rd at about 50%. The best odds are in Tangkoko Nature Reserve (Indonesia, about 70%) and Kaeng Krachan National Park (Thailand, about 50%). All parks ranked.
Same genus: Dicrurus
The closest relatives of the Hair-crested Drongo that you can see in Khao Yai National Park (genus Dicrurus, Drongos) are Ashy Drongo (about 50%), Greater Racket-tailed Drongo (about 40%) and Bronzed Drongo (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Hair-crested Drongo is recorded against all the birds logged in Khao Yai National Park (1,234 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), 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.
