Appearance
This drongo is somewhat smaller than the black drongo and has more metallic gloss with a spangled appearance on the head, neck and breast.The lores are velvety and the ear coverts are duller. The tail is slender and well forked with the outer tail feathers flaring outward slightly. Immatures have their axillaries tipped in white. The young bird is duller and brownish with less spangling.
The nominate race is found in India and extending until the northern part of the Malay Peninsula. Specimens from southern India are however very similar in morphometrics to those from "malayensis" of Burma and the size variation may be clinal. The subspecies from China "kwangsiensis" is treated as synonymous with "aeneus". Subspecies "malayensis" is found from Selangor south into, Sumatra and Borneo. Taiwan is home to "braunianus" in the mountains of the interior.
Distribution
The bronzed drongo is found in the Western Ghats and Eastern Ghats of India and the lower Himalayas from western Uttaranchal eastwards into Indochina int Hainan, the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra and northern Borneo. This species is usually found in moist broadleaved forest.
Behavior
They are found singly or in a group of two to three. They actively forage for insects under the forest canopy by making aerial sallies, often returning to their favourite perches. They sometimes join mixed-species foraging flocks.The breeding season is February to July. Three or four pinkish to brownish eggs are laid in a cup nest in a tree. The eggs are darker on the broad end and often have cloudy spots. The nest is covered in cobwebs and often appears whitish. These are aggressive and fearless birds, 24 cm in length, and will attack much larger species if their nest or young are threatened.
Habitat
They are found singly or in a group of two to three. They actively forage for insects under the forest canopy by making aerial sallies, often returning to their favourite perches. They sometimes join mixed-species foraging flocks.The breeding season is February to July. Three or four pinkish to brownish eggs are laid in a cup nest in a tree. The eggs are darker on the broad end and often have cloudy spots. The nest is covered in cobwebs and often appears whitish. These are aggressive and fearless birds, 24 cm in length, and will attack much larger species if their nest or young are threatened.
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