Afghanistan (B), Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China (mainland), India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines (B), Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam.
Vagrant to North Korea, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan (China).
Rarity Status
Currently this species is not classified as a rarity in this country OR information has not been updated.
Population
Estimated population is unknown (2010).
Ashy Drongo (Dicrurus) [XC429029]
by Kuan-Chieh (Chuck) Hung, Taiwanbirdguide.com from Dongju island, Matzu, Taiwan (call)
Ashy Drongo (Dicrurus leucophaeus) [XC365197]
by Rolf A. de By from Thikhong Substation, Thung Yai Naresuan Wildlife Sanctuary, Thailand (song)
Nest
Cup composed of plant fibers, roots and grasses, suspended from a branch of a tree.
Eggs (Guide)
3 - 4; pale pink or ochraceous with pale spots.
Subspecies
Recent DNA studies indicate that this Asian species is closest to the African group of drongos, providing evidence of a dispersal from Africa c. 10 million years ago. Dark subspecies longicaudatus and white-faced subspecies leucogenis formerly treated as two separate species. Subspecific taxonomy complicated, as many subspecies not clearly differentiated and, in most of mainland, subspecies are highly migratory. Subspecies hopwoodi intergrades with longicaudatus in West Bengal and Bhutan, and with mouhoti in north-eastern Myanmar, north-western and western Laos and central Vietnam; nigrescens intergrades with mouhoti in southern Myanmar and with bondi in south-eastern Thailand. In China, pale subspecies leucogenis intergrades with dark salangensis along R Yangtze, and latter may intergrade with mouhoti in northern Vietnam (northern Tonkin).
Proposed subspecies beavani (described from eastern Afghanistan) considered inseparable from longicaudatus; celaenus (from Simeulue, off north-western Sumatra) and palawanensis (Palawan, in western Philippines) considered too poorly differentiated from nominate to warrant recognition.
The following 15 subspecies are recognised:
longicaudatus Jerdon, 1862 - Breeds in southern Himalayas from extreme eastern Afghanistan east to Bhutan. Non-breeding at lower altitudes and through Indian peninsula (except Punjab, Sind and arid parts of Rajasthan and Gujarat) south to Sri Lanka.
hopwoodi Baker, ECS, 1918 - Breeds in eastern Himalayas (eastern from Bhutan), south-western and southern China (from eastern Xizang east to southern Guangdong), northern and central Myanmar east to northern Vietnam; migrates south to West Bengal, southern Assam, Bangladesh, southern China (Hainan) and southern Myanmar, northern and eastern Thailand and southern Laos.
leucogenis (Walden, 1870) - Eastern and central China from Liaoning southern (eastern from northern Gansu and Sichuan) to north-eastern Guangdong; migrates to southern China, northern Laos, eastern Thailand, Cambodia, Tenasserim and Malay Peninsula (both western and eastern coastal plains).
salangensis Reichenow, 1890 - South-eastern China south of R Yangtze (to Fujian-Guangdong border); migrates south to Hainan, southern Indochina, east, central and southern Thailand and Malay Peninsula.
innexus (Swinhoe, 1870) - Hainan.
mouhoti (Walden, 1870) - Central, south-western and eastern Myanmar, northern and eastern Thailand and central Indochina; migrates to southern Myanmar, southern Thailand and Cambodia.
bondi Meyer de Schauensee, 1937 - Western and eastern Thailand, Cambodia, southern Laos and southern Vietnam.
nigrescens Oates, 1889 - Southern Myanmar (Tenasserim) and Malay Peninsula (west of Main Range) southern (including Phuket I and Pinang I) to Johor; post-breeding dispersal south to Singapore.
batakensis (Robinson & Kloss, 1919) - Northern Sumatra (Aceh and Batak Highlands).
phaedrus (Reichenow, 1904) - Central and southern Sumatra.
leucophaeus Vieillot, 1817 - Simeulue, off north-western Sumatra; Java, Bali, Lombok; and south-western Philippines (Busuanga, Culion, Palawan and Balabac).
siberu Chasen & Kloss, 1926 - Siberut, off western Sumatra.
periophthalmicus (Salvadori, 1894) - Sipura and Pagai Is, off western Sumatra.
stigmatops (Sharpe, 1879) - Northern Borneo.
celaenus Oberholser, 1912 - Simeulue I. (off western Sumatra).
BirdLife International Species Factsheet