- Chaetorhynchus papuensis
Alternative names: Pygmy Drongo-Fantail; Papuan Drongo; Mountain Drongo; Papuan Mountain Drongo; Pygmy Drongo
Identification
20 - 22cm. A small drongo:
- Sooty-black plumage
- Tail slightly rounded (not forked)
- Short and strongly compressed bill, upper mandible strongly hooked
- Very long rictal bristles
- Brown eye
Sexes similar. Females are slightly smaller. Immatures are duller and have a white gape.
Distribution
Endemic to hills and mountains of New Guinea.
Fairly common to scarce in its range.
Taxonomy
A monotypic species.
No longer placed with the Drongos but in the Fantail family.
Habitat
Hill forests from 200m up to 1600m, mainly between 600 and 1400m.
Spangled Drongo is found in lowland forests.
Behaviour
Feeds on insects and spiders.
Hunts from a perch, sallying out in middle and lower strata of forest.
Often joins mixed-species flocks with Warblers, Fantails, Monarch-flycatchers and Pitohuis, acting as sentinel.
The nest is a small shallow basket, hunging from a tree fork. No other data about breeding.
A resident species.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, S. M. Billerman, T. A. Fredericks, J. A. Gerbracht, D. Lepage, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2021. The eBird/Clements checklist of Birds of the World: v2021. Downloaded from https://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Del Hoyo, J, A Elliott, and D Christie, eds. 2009. Handbook of the Birds of the World. Volume 14: Bush-shrikes to Old World Sparrows. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions. ISBN 978-8496553507
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Drongo Fantail. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 22 December 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Drongo_Fantail
