Square-tailed Drongo-Cuckoo
Surniculus lugubris
Description 3
The square-tailed drongo-cuckoo was formerly considered conspecific with the fork-tailed drongo-cuckoo (together known as the Asian drongo-cuckoo), but vocal and morphological differences suggested that the species should be split.
It is a brood parasite on small babblers. It is not known how or whether the drongo-like appearance benefits this species but it is suspected that it aids in brood-parasitism just as hawk-cuckoos appear like hawks.
It is an uncommon resident and migrant in Singapore.
It can be easily distinguished from drongos by its thin curved bill and the white barred vent and outer undertail.
Sources and Credits
- (c) Tan Kok Hui, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Tan Kok Hui
- (c) Tan Kok Hui, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), https://picasaweb.google.com/107386319100895694067/OurBirdingTrips02?authkey=Gv1sRgCN2ljb7sgIm-qwE#5744990137789336770
- (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Square-tailed_drongo-cuckoo
