Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Spangled Drongo

This Spangled Drongo (Dicrurus bracteatus) came and sat on the power lines next to my house yesterday. Its handsome appearance certainly does not match its raucous voice. My birding book says that they are not shy but this is certainly not true for the few times they have come into my yard. As soon as they have seen me they have taken off. For this picture I was able to come around the side of the house in the shadow and then move closer in the cover of the hedge.

Three or four days before this I had seen another two of these birds in the yard but my pictures were not clear. The general appearance of the birds was the same and they were making the same raucous noises. However, one of these birds was displaying a feature I have not seen in the bird books. Feathers on its head were sticking up like two little tufted ears. Another birder told me that he has only seen this once before. Does anyone out there know more about this display?



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