CreatureData

Greater racket-tailed drongo

Dicrurus paradiseus (Linnaeus, 1766)

LCLeast Concernsongbirds

The greater racket-tailed drongo (Dicrurus paradiseus) is a species in the family Dicruridae, order Passeriformes. Recorded adults weigh 73 g to 112 g. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.

Greater racket-tailed drongo (Dicrurus paradiseus)
Photo: Len Worthington · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the greater racket-tailed drongo

Weight
73 g – 112 gsrc for Weight
Length
Not recorded
Lifespan
Not recorded
Diet
Invertivoresrc for Diet
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
forestsrc for Habitat
Young per litter or clutch
3.5src for Young per litter or clutch
Lifestyle
Perchingsrc for Lifestyle
Migration
Sedentarysrc for Migration
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
Countries on record
Not recorded

Where does the greater racket-tailed drongo live?

Not recorded

What is the greater racket-tailed drongo?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

The greater racket-tailed drongo (Dicrurus paradiseus) is a medium-sized Asian bird which is distinctive in having elongated outer tail feathers with webbing restricted to the tips. They are placed along with other drongos in the family Dicruridae. They are conspicuous in the forest habitats often perching in the open and by attracting attention with a wide range of loud calls that include perfect imitations of many other birds. One hypothesis suggested is that these vocal imitations may help in the formation of mixed-species foraging flocks, a feature seen in forest bird communities where many insect feeders forage together. These drongos will sometimes steal insect prey caught or disturbed by other foragers in the flock and another idea is that vocal mimicry helps them in diverting the attention of smaller birds to aid their piracy. They are diurnal but are active well before dawn and late at dusk. Owing to their widespread distribution and distinctive regional variation, they have become iconic examples of speciation by isolation and genetic drift.

From the Wikipedia article “Greater racket-tailed drongo” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Greater_racket-tailed_drongo&oldid=1380253900), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.

What does the greater racket-tailed drongo sound like?

Vinay bhat · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Is the greater racket-tailed drongo endangered?

The greater racket-tailed drongo is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.

  1. LCLeast Concern
  2. NTNear Threatened
  3. VUVulnerable
  4. ENEndangered
  5. CRCritically Endangered
  6. EWExtinct in the Wild
  7. EXExtinct

Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species. What the categories mean.

How is the greater racket-tailed drongo classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classAves
  4. orderPasseriformes
  5. familyDicruridae
  6. genusDicrurus
  7. SpeciesDicrurus paradiseus (Linnaeus, 1766)

Synonyms Cuculus paradiseus

Other names and names in other languages (49)
  • Greater racquet-tailed drongoEnglish
  • ভীমৰাজAssamese
  • Голям вимпелоопашат дронгоBulgarian
  • ভীমরাজBangla
  • Drongo de raquetes grosCatalan
  • drongo d'estandarts grosCatalan
  • drongo vlajkovýCzech
  • drongo llwy-gynffon mawrWelsh
  • Stor PragtdrongoDanish
  • FlaggendrongoGerman
  • flagvosta drongoEsperanto
  • Drongo de raquetas grandeSpanish
  • paradiisidrongoEstonian
  • بوجانگای دمپارویی بزرگPersian
  • viiridrongoFinnish
  • Drongo à raquettesFrench
  • דרונגו פרדיסאוסHebrew
  • ग्रेटर रैकेट-पूंछ ड्रोंगोHindi
  • drongo barjaktarCroatian
  • paradicsomdrongóHungarian
  • Srigunting batuIndonesian
  • Drongo codaracchetta maggioreItalian
  • Drongo coda a racchetta maggioreItalian
  • カザリオウチュウJapanese
  • ಕಾಜಾಣKannada
  • ಭೀಮರಾಜKannada
  • didysis rojinis drongasLithuanian
  • കാടുമുഴക്കിMalayalam
  • भृंगराजMarathi
  • Burung Cecawi Anting-antingMalay
  • လင်းမြီးဆွဲငှက်Burmese
  • भीमराज चिबेNepali
  • VlaggendrongoDutch
  • dragedrongoNorwegian
  • ଭୃଙ୍ଗରାଜOdia
  • dziwogon rajskiPolish
  • drongo-de-raquetes-grandePortuguese
  • drongo-grande-de-raquetesPortuguese
  • Райский дронгоRussian
  • drongo zástavkovýSlovak
  • Veliki repati drongoSerbian
  • större vimpeldrongoSwedish
  • துடுப்பு வால் கரிச்சான்Tamil
  • นกแซงแซวหางบ่วงใหญ่Thai
  • Büyük Raket Kuyruklu DrongoTurkish
  • дронго великийUkrainian
  • Chèo bẻo đuôi cờ chẻVietnamese
  • 大盘尾Chinese
  • 大盤尾Chinese

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistWikidataIUCN Red List

Relatives of the greater racket-tailed drongo

Other species in the same genus Dicrurus.

LC, Least Concern
Ashy drongo (Dicrurus leucophaeus)

Ashy drongo

Dicrurus leucophaeus

Dicruridae

CompareGreater racket-tailed drongo vs Black drongoGreater racket-tailed drongo vs Ashy drongoGreater racket-tailed drongo vs Bronzed drongoGreater racket-tailed drongo vs Fork-tailed drongo

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the greater racket-tailed drongo?

An adult greater racket-tailed drongo weighs 73 g – 112 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

Is the greater racket-tailed drongo endangered?

The greater racket-tailed drongo is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.

What kind of animal is the greater racket-tailed drongo?

The greater racket-tailed drongo (Dicrurus paradiseus) belongs to the family Dicruridae in the order Passeriformes.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Greater racket-tailed drongo (Dicrurus paradiseus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/greater-racket-tailed-drongo

MLA

“Greater racket-tailed drongo (Dicrurus paradiseus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/greater-racket-tailed-drongo.

BibTeX
@misc{greater_racket_tailed_drongo_2026,
  title = {Greater racket-tailed drongo (Dicrurus paradiseus)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/greater-racket-tailed-drongo},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}