Crested Drongo
Dicrurus forficatus (Linnaeus, 1766)
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Crested Drongo, Ankarafantsika National Park, Madagascar Swarowski 80 HD 30 X, Coolpix P5100 (Adapter DCB)
Frank Vassen · CC BY 2.0 · Image sourceProvider-generated thumbnail requested at 800 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.
Open encyclopedia reference
The crested drongo (Dicrurus forficatus) is a passerine bird in the family Dicruridae. It is black with a bluish-green sheen, a distinctive crest on the forehead and a forked tail. There are two subspecies; D. f. forficatus is endemic to Madagascar and D. f. potior, which is larger, is found on the Comoro Islands. Its habitat is lowland forests, both dry and humid, and open savannah country. It is a common bird and the IUCN has listed it as "least concern".
Wikipedia contributors, Crested drongo; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T03:59:22.474172+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Dicrurus forficatus (Linnaeus, 1766)
- Name authority
- (Linnaeus, 1766)
- Common name
- Crested Drongo
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Dicruridae
- Genus
- Dicrurus
- Extinction status
- Recorded extant
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classAves
- orderPasseriformes
- familyDicruridae Vigors, 1825
- genusDicrurus Vieillot, 1816
- speciesDicrurus forficatus (Linnaeus, 1766)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Dicrurus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Ashy DrongoDicrurus leucophaeus Vieillot, 1817 | DicruridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Dicrurus lophorinus Vieillot, 1817 | DicruridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Velvet-mantled DrongoDicrurus modestus Hartlaub, 1849 | DicruridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Lesser Racket-tailed DrongoDicrurus remifer (Temminck, 1823) | DicruridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Aldabra DrongoDicrurus aldabranus (Ridgway, 1893) | DicruridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Sulawesi DrongoDicrurus montanus (Riley, 1919) | DicruridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Fork-tailed DrongoDicrurus adsimilis (Bechstein, 1794) | DicruridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Andaman DrongoDicrurus andamanensis Beavan, 1867 | DicruridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| BalicassiaoDicrurus balicassius (Linnaeus, 1766) | DicruridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Grand Comoro DrongoDicrurus fuscipennis (Milne-Edwards & Oustalet, 1887) | DicruridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Ribbon-tailed DrongoDicrurus megarhynchus (Quoy & Gaimard, 1830) | DicruridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Greater Racket-tailed DrongoDicrurus paradiseus (Linnaeus, 1766) | DicruridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=559765 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:6D5S2. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.