• Summary
• Text account
• Data table and detailed info
• Distribution map
• Reference and further resources

Taxonomic note
Dicrurus hottentottus, D. palawanensis (Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International 2023) and D. striatus (del Hoyo and Collar 2016) were previously lumped as D. hottentottus following a previous split of D. mengai from D. hottentottus, acknowledged by Rocamora and Yeatman-Berthelot (2009). Formerly considered conspecific with D. sumatranus, D. densus, D. menagei, D. montanus and D. bracteatus. Vocal analysis (Boesman 2016) reveals that evaluation of vocal differences in this group is very difficult as vocabulary of each group (including mimicry) appears to be even wider than already known. Subspecies banggaiensis sometimes synonymized with pectoralis or leucops, and seems closer to latter. Clinal decrease in size from N to S, birds in C India being similar to those of Myanmar and Thailand, intermediate between those of Himalayan foothills and those of S India (extreme length of male tail 149–164 mm in Himalayas, 132–155 in C India, 114–128 in SW India). Nominate subspecies intergrades with brevirostris from S China (W Yunnan) and N Myanmar E to N Vietnam. Proposed subspecies chrishna (Nepal foothills), allegedly larger than specimens from C and S India, appears indistinguishable from nominate; termeuleni (Jakarta Bay, in W Java) considered inseparable from jentincki, but further study required. Ten subspecies currently recognized.

Taxonomic source(s)
Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International. 2023. Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International digital checklist of the birds of the world. Version 8. Available at: https://datazone.birdlife.org/userfiles/file/Species/Taxonomy/HBW-BirdLife_Checklist_v8_Dec23.zip.

Red List criteria met

Critically Endangered	Endangered	Vulnerable
-	-	-

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2023	Least Concern
2016	Not Recognised
2012	Not Recognised
2008	Not Recognised
2004	Not Recognised
2000	Not Recognised
1994	Not Recognised
1988	Not Recognised

Migratory status	full migrant	Forest dependency	medium
Land-mass type		Average mass	-

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	22,500,000 km2
Severely fragmented?	no	-

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	unknown	-	-	-
Population trend	decreasing	-	suspected	2017-2027
Rate of change over the past 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	1-9%	-	-	-
Rate of change over the future 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	1-9%	-	-	-
Rate of change over the past & future 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	1-9%	-	-	-
Generation length	3.52 years	-	-	-
Number of subpopulations	10-100	-	-	-
Percentage of mature individuals in largest subpopulation	1-89%	-	-	-

Population justification: The global population size has not been quantified, but the species is described as fairly common to uncommon (Grimmett et al. 1998, Rocamora et al. 2020, Eaton et al. 2021).

Trend justification: The population is suspected to be declining slowly due to habitat loss within its range. In the three generations to 2022, forest cover loss in its range was c.9% (Global Forest Watch 2023, based on Hansen et al. [2013] and methods disclosed therein) and this is thought to be ongoing. However, the species also occurs in secondary growth, dense scrub and forest edge, and it is also reportedly tolerant of degraded forest and plantations; it is therefore unlikely to be declining particularly rapidly. Trapping for the Indonesian songbird trade has also been identified as a threat, with the species appearing in low numbers on physical market survey inventories (Chng et al. 2016, 2018) and online marketplace platforms (Okarda et al. 2022), though this is thought unlikely to be causing significant reductions in global population size. Declines are here placed in the range 1-9% in three generations.

Country/Territory	Presence	Origin	Resident	Breeding visitor	Non-breeding visitor	Passage migrant
Bangladesh	extant	native	yes
Bhutan	extant	native	yes	yes
Brunei	extant	native	yes
Cambodia	extant	native	yes		yes
China (mainland)	extant	native	yes	yes
India	extant	native	yes	yes
Indonesia	extant	native	yes
Laos	extant	native	yes		yes
Malaysia	extant	native	yes
Myanmar	extant	native	yes		yes
Nepal	extant	native	yes	yes
Philippines	extant	native	yes
Thailand	extant	native	yes		yes
Vietnam	extant	native	yes		yes

Country/Territory	IBA Name

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Artificial/Terrestrial	Plantations	suitable	resident
Artificial/Terrestrial	Subtropical/Tropical Heavily Degraded Former Forest	suitable	resident
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Moist Lowland	suitable	resident
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Moist Montane	suitable	resident
Altitude	0 - 2200 m	Occasional altitudinal limits	(max) 2400 m

Threat (level 1)	Threat (level 2)	Impact and Stresses
Agriculture & aquaculture	Annual & perennial non-timber crops - Agro-industry farming	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation
Agriculture & aquaculture	Annual & perennial non-timber crops - Small-holder farming	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation
Agriculture & aquaculture	Wood & pulp plantations - Agro-industry plantations	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation
Biological resource use	Hunting & trapping terrestrial animals - Intentional use (species is the target)	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Negligible declines		Low Impact: 4
		Stresses Species mortality
Biological resource use	Logging & wood harvesting - Unintentional effects: (large scale) [harvest]	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation
Biological resource use	Logging & wood harvesting - Unintentional effects: (subsistence/small scale) [harvest]	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation
Energy production & mining	Mining & quarrying	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion

Purpose	Scale
Pets/display animals, horticulture	national

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Hair-crested Drongo Dicrurus hottentottus. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/hair-crested-drongo-dicrurus-hottentottus on 11/12/2024.
Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2024) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/search on 11/12/2024.