Bird Spangled Drongo (Dicrurus braceatus)

[auscraft]

Common Name: Spangled Drongo

Scientific Name: Dicrurus braceatus

Family: Dicruridae

Order: Passeriformes

Distribution: northern and eastern Australia, also found in New Guinea and Indonesia

Habitat: mostly in lowland rainforest and adjoining open forests, deciduous vine scrubs, urban areas and mangroves.

Field Notes: a long, outcurved, forked tail, iridescent black plumage and blue-green iridescent ‘spangles’ on the chest. A heavy bill with bristles around the base and a blood red eye. Size - 28-32cm.

Photos by Auscraft, 2011. My Yard, QLD

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[auscraft]

Spangled Drongos normally have only one clutch per season. Both adults participate in building the nest, the nest is a hammock-like basket attached by the rim or sides to leafy twigs at the extremity of branches. It is placed in a horizontal fork of tree, normally toward outer edges and up to 10 m – 20 m above the ground. It is constructed almost entirely of long, curling, pliant vine tendrills interwoven to form the nesh like fabric of the basketBoth sexes incubate the eggs and care for the young. Spangled Drongos actively defend the nest against intruders.
Reference Field guide to Australian birds Michael Morcombe
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