Hair-crested Drongo
Dicrurus hottentottus
- KingdomAnimalia (Animals)
- PhylumChordata (Chordates)
- ClassAves (Birds)
- OrderPasseriformes (Perching Birds)
- FamilyDicruridae (Drongos)
- GenusDicrurus (Drongos)
- SpeciesDicrurus hottentottus (Hair-crested Drongo)
About the Hair-crested Drongo
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 →
Closest Relatives at Manas National Park
Black Drongo
Dicrurus macrocercus
Bronzed Drongo
Dicrurus aeneus
Ashy Drongo
Dicrurus leucophaeus
Greater Racket-tailed Drongo
Dicrurus paradiseus
Lesser Racket-tailed Drongo
Dicrurus remifer
Crow-billed Drongo
Dicrurus annectens
Jungle Myna
Acridotheres fuscus
Siberian Stonechat
Saxicola maurus
Red-whiskered Bulbul
Pycnonotus jocosus
Chestnut-tailed Starling
Sturnia malabarica
Oriental Magpie-Robin
Copsychus saularis
Black-hooded Oriole
Oriolus xanthornus
Global Distribution
Where this species is recorded worldwide. Restricted to human observations from 2019 onwards — the same kind of record and the same period the probabilities on this page are built from, so collar-tracking studies, camera-trap arrays and museum specimens are excluded. Around Santa Rosa that removes 5,924 GPS fixes from a handful of tagged jaguars.
where this species is recorded (GBIF density — it tracks where observers go, not how likely a sighting is) · parks where it occurs — tap a pin for the sighting probability there
Parks Where Found
Quick answers
What are the chances of seeing a Hair-crested Drongo in Manas National Park?
About 20% of wildlife watchers report a Hair-crested Drongo sighting in Manas National Park, based on 569 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data.
When is the best time to see Hair-crested Drongo in Manas National Park?
February has the highest sighting rate for Hair-crested Drongo in Manas National Park in our monthly data.