The lesser racket-tailed drongo (''Dicrurus remifer'') is a species of

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweig ...

in the family Dicruridae. It is found in the

Indian Subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a physiographical region in Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian Ocean from the Himalayas. Geopolitically, it includes the countries of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India ...

and

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...

Description

Lesser racket-tailed drongo is about 25–27·5 cm long, excluding outermost tail feathers (c. 30–40 cm to end of tail); average weight of males 39–49 g, and females 35·5–44 g. It can be confused with the

Greater racket-tailed drongo The greater racket-tailed drongo (''Dicrurus paradiseus'') is a medium-sized Asian bird which is distinctive in having elongated outer tail feathers with webbing restricted to the tips. They are placed along with other drongos in the family Di ...

, but it doesn't have crest on head.

Taxonomy

There are 4 recognised subspecies of lesser racket-tailed drongo * ''D. r. tectirostris'' (Hodgson, 1836) – lower Himalayas from N India (Uttarakhand) E to Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Nagaland, Manipur and Mizoram, NE Bangladesh, S China (SE Xizang, W & S Yunnan and SW Guangxi), Myanmar (except extreme S), N Thailand, N Laos and N Vietnam (S to Huê). * ''D. r. peracensis'' (E. C. S. Baker, 1918) – S Myanmar (Tenasserim) and SW & S Thailand S to N Peninsular Malaysia (S Selangor and S Pahang), S Laos and S Vietnam (S to S Annam). * ''D. r. lefoli'' (Delacour & Jabouille, 1928) – mountains of S Cambodia (Cardamom and Elephant Ranges). * ''D. r. remifer'' (Temminck, 1823) – Sumatra (Barisan Range and Batak Highlands) and W Java.

Distribution and habitat

left, 260px, Incubating bird at Kaeng Krachan National Park in Thailand It is found in the

and

, ranging across

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million pe ...

Bhutan Bhutan (; dz, འབྲུག་ཡུལ་, Druk Yul ), officially the Kingdom of Bhutan,), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is situated in the Eastern Himalayas, between China in the north and India in the south. A mountai ...

Cambodia Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailan ...

India India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

, Laos,

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is ma ...

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...

, and

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making it ...

. Its natural

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

is subtropical or tropical moist

montane forest Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is a crucia ...

References

External links

lesser racket-tailed drongo The lesser racket-tailed drongo (''Dicrurus remifer'') is a species of bird in the family Dicruridae. It is found in the Indian Subcontinent and Southeast Asia. Description Lesser racket-tailed drongo is about 25–27·5 cm long, excluding oute ...

Birds of North India Birds of Nepal Birds of Eastern Himalaya Birds of Southeast Asia Birds of Yunnan

Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Dicruridae-stub