Square-tailed Drongo-Cuckoo

Surniculus lugubris (Horsfield, 1821)

≈22 cmLength30 gWeight

It is a cuckoo resembling Black Drongo, with a decurved bill and only a shallow notch in the tail.

Busiest months: March–April · Most records: Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore

Looks like Black Drongo

Least Concern

How to identify

Field marks

Bill decurved
White barring around the vent and on the underside of the outer tail feathers
Tail only shallowly notched, with tips slightly splayed outward
A single white stripe on the underwing in flight

Voice

A series of sharp whistles rising in pitch, sounding grating and intermittent.

Similar species

Black Drongo

Square-tailed Drongo-Cuckoo has a decurved bill, a shallowly notched tail with slightly splayed tips, and white barring around the vent.

Where and when it's recorded

Square-tailed Drongo-Cuckoo has been recorded at 523 of the 8,171 birding hotspots we track, in 14 countries and regions.

Records by month Northern Hemisphere

Where it's recorded most

Dairy Farm Nature ParkSingapore494 records
Gunung Panti Recreational Forest – Panti Bird Sanctuary and North AreaMalaysia419 records
Sepilok – Rainforest Discovery CenterMalaysia391 records

More places

Taman Negara NP Kuala TahanMalaysia332 records
Danum Valley Borneo Rainforest LodgeMalaysia331 records
Kaeng Krachan NP – stream crossings 1–3Thailand309 records
Kaeng Krachan NPThailand308 records
Khao Luang NP – Krung Ching Waterfall trail & campgroundThailand307 records
Central Catchment Nature ReserveSingapore261 records
Man Nai IslandThailand252 records

Countries and regions with the most records

Malaysia Thailand Singapore India Vietnam China Philippines Indonesia

eBird records via GBIF up to 2024-12-31. A record means someone listed it; more records partly mean more birders, not more birds.

About

The square-tailed drongo-cuckoo (Surniculus lugubris) is a species of cuckoo that resembles a black drongo. It is found along the Himalayas extending east into Southeast Asia. The calls are series of piercing sharp whistles rising in pitch but shrill and choppily delivered.

Excerpt from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0 · authors · Read more on Wikipedia

Questions

How big is the Square-tailed Drongo-Cuckoo?

The Square-tailed Drongo-Cuckoo is about ≈22 cm long and weighs around 30 g.

Where does the Square-tailed Drongo-Cuckoo live?

Its breeding range: Oriental: northwestern Himalayas to southeastern China, south to Malay Peninsula, Greater Sundas and Palawan group (southern Philippines). It is most often recorded in Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore.