• Summary
• Text account
• Data table and detailed info
• Range map
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Taxonomic note
Dicrurus ludwigii and D. sharpei were previously lumped as D. ludwigii (Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International 2022) but split following Fuchs et al. (2017, 2018) and Fishpool et al. (2021). See under D. sharpei. The taxon saturnus was considered by Fuchs et al. (2017) to be better placed with sharpei, but this suggestion was later reversed (Fuchs et al. 2018). Proposed subspecies elgonensis included in saturnus; subspecies tephrogaster appears to be transitional, and may be better included in nominate. Four subspecies recognised.

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.

Population justification: The global population size has not been quantified, but the species is at least locally common across much of the range, though is uncommon and restricted at the northern edge of the range in Somalia (Rocamora and Yeatman-Berthelot 2020). There are a minimum of four separate subpopulations given the recognition of four subspecies, though there may be additional population division present. The population is suspected to be very large given the reported level of abundance and frequency of recording across the very large range (eBird 2023).

Trend justification: The population is suspected to be stable in the absence of evidence for any declines or substantial threats. While there is a low to moderate rate of forest cover loss across the range of the species, it uses forest edge, degraded forest, some plantations and large gardens and is unlikely to be severely affected by loss of intact forest, where it is less frequently observed.

Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2025) Species factsheet: Square-tailed Drongo Dicrurus ludwigii. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/square-tailed-drongo-dicrurus-ludwigii on 15/01/2025.
Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2025) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/search on 15/01/2025.