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

Taxonomic note
Dicrurus adsimilis and D. modestus (del Hoyo and Collar 2016) were previously lumped as D. adsimilis following Dowsett & Forbes-Watson (1993).

Taxonomic source(s)
del Hoyo, J., Collar, N.J., Christie, D.A., Elliott, A., Fishpool, L.D.C., Boesman, P. and Kirwan, G.M. 2016. HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. Volume 2: Passerines. Lynx Edicions and BirdLife International, Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge, UK.

Red List criteria met

Critically Endangered	Endangered	Vulnerable
-	-	-

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2024	Least Concern
2016	Least Concern
2012	Not Recognised
2008	Not Recognised
2004	Not Recognised
2000	Not Recognised
1994	Not Recognised
1988	Not Recognised

Migratory status	not a migrant	Forest dependency	low
Land-mass type		Average mass	-

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	6,660,000 km2	medium
Severely fragmented?	no	-

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	unknown	-	-	-
Population trend	stable	-	suspected	-
Generation length	3.55 years	-	-	-

Population justification: The global population size has not been quantified, but it is believed to be large as the species is described as common in at least parts of its range (Hall and Moreau 1970, Roberts 1993, Zimmerman et al. 1996, Borrow and Demey 2001, Stevenson and Fanshawe 2002). The subspecies modestus (previously recognised as a separate species), was considered Near Threatened, although its population size is unknown numbers are assumed to be small. The population is suspected to be stable in the absence of evidence for any declines or substantial threats.

Trend justification: The population is suspected to be stable in the absence of evidence for any declines or substantial threats.

Country/Territory	Presence	Origin	Resident	Breeding visitor	Non-breeding visitor	Passage migrant
Angola	extant	native	yes
Benin	extant	native	yes
Cameroon	extant	native	yes
Central African Republic	extant	native	yes
Congo	extant	native	yes
Congo, The Democratic Republic of the	extant	native	yes
Côte d'Ivoire	extant	native	yes
Equatorial Guinea	extant	native	yes
Gabon	extant	native	yes
Ghana	extant	native	yes
Guinea	extant	native	yes
Kenya	extant	native	yes
Liberia	extant	native	yes
Nigeria	extant	native	yes
São Tomé e Príncipe	extant	native	yes
Sierra Leone	extant	native	yes
South Sudan	extant	native	yes
Togo	extant	native	yes
Uganda	extant	native	yes

Country/Territory	IBA Name

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Artificial/Terrestrial	Arable Land	suitable	resident
Artificial/Terrestrial	Plantations	suitable	resident
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Dry	suitable	resident
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Moist Lowland	suitable	resident
Grassland	Subtropical/Tropical Dry	suitable	resident
Savanna	Dry	major	resident
Altitude	0 - 2200 m	Occasional altitudinal limits

Threat (level 1)	Threat (level 2)	Impact and Stresses
Agriculture & aquaculture	Annual & perennial non-timber crops - Small-holder farming	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Unknown		Unknown		Unknown
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Pollution	Agricultural & forestry effluents - Herbicides and pesticides	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Unknown		Unknown
		Stresses Species mortality

Purpose	Scale
Pets/display animals, horticulture	international

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Velvet-mantled Drongo Dicrurus modestus. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/velvet-mantled-drongo-dicrurus-modestus on 18/12/2024.
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 18/12/2024.