Spangled Drongo vs White-bellied Drongo

Spangled Drongo

Dicrurus bracteatus

Medium86 gForest

Its basically black plumage is iridescent with blue and purple highlights. Its eyes are crimson. The most remarkable characteristic of its appearance is its tail, which is described by Morcombe as "long, outcurved and forked" and on first examination looks like its feathers are crossed over – like crossing your fingers. Young drongos lack the highlights and spots and their eyes are dark brown.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Damien O'Donnell · CC BY 4.0

White-bellied Drongo

Dicrurus caerulescens

Small40 gForest

This drongo is black without any glossy feathers on the upperside and greyish on the throat and breast, while the belly and vent are entirely white in the Indian form which is the nominate subspecies. The fork of the tail is less deep than in the black drongo which is often seen in the same habitats. Young black drongos can have a lot of white on the underside but it is usually scaly in appearance. The Sri Lankan forms insularis of the northern dry zone and leucopygialis of the southern wet zone have the white restricted to the vent.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: (c) Hafiz Issadeen, some rights reserved (CC BY) · cc-by

Photos and recordings are credited to their authors under the licence shown. Full profiles: Spangled Drongo and White-bellied Drongo.