28-04-2025
‘Like seeing a lion in Leh': Birder spots greater racket-tailed drongo in Gurgaon
When Major General Arvind Yadav was out on his usual birding routine Sunday, the last thing he expected to see in the semi-arid Millenium City was a greater racket-tailed drongo, a medium-sized Asian bird known for its long outer tail feathers with webbing only at the tips.
'It is like spotting a lion in Leh, Ladakh. They have no reason to be seen in Gurgaon,' said Maj Gen Yadav, 57, a serving officer, who sighted the bird in Jhanjhrola in the morning.
The greater racket-tailed drongo (Dicrurus paradiseus) belongs to the Dicruridae family and stands out in forest habitats, often perching openly and drawing attention with loud, varied calls, including accurate imitations of other birds.
They tend to steal insects caught or disturbed by other flock members, and another hypothesis is that their mimicry distracts smaller birds to facilitate this theft. They are active during the day, especially before dawn and near dusk.
Maj Gen Yadav said that the Himalayan bird is otherwise spotted only in forests or hilly regions, and his experience on Sunday would be termed a vagrant sighting, which happens when a bird is spotted outside its normal geographic range or migration route.
The greater racket-tailed drongo is spotted only in forests or hilly regions. (Express Photo)
Previously, the greater racket-tailed drongo was spotted in Haryana only in the Faridabad section of the Aravallis on two occasions, he said. 'It is not native to the state, and when we saw it, the bird was being chased away and attacked by resident birds like crows, who do not allow other birds to mingle in their area.'
The officer added that his birder group had another vagrant sighting earlier – a wader bird known as the thick-knee.
Stumped by the spotting, he said that traditional textbooks on birds need not necessarily be considered the last word. 'What with significant climate change and deforestation, maybe it is being forced to adapt to and adopt a new habitat of sorts. This one might just have been lost, but still.'
