Hyderabad: It sounded like a grey junglefowl, a ground-dwelling bird. But sound came from a treetop. When they turned their binoculars upwards, birdwatchers saw a black bird with long, ribbon-like tail feathers, longer than its body.It was a greater racket-tailed drongo (Dicrurus paradiseus), a rare mimic, spotted hopping on treetops near Bheemunipadam waterfalls in Mahbubabad on March 31.The drongo, notorious for vocal deception, is known to imitate the calls of other birds with accuracy. This one mimicked the ground dweller junglefowl so precisely that even experienced birders were fooled.“I genuinely thought it was a junglefowl,” said a birdwatcher Sri Ram Reddy who recorded the mimicry. “Then I looked up and saw the drongo sitting some 25-feet high. Its mimicry was flawless.”The greater racket-tailed drongo is a forest-dwelling bird known not only for its distinctive tail but also for its vocals. It can reproduce the calls of babblers, mynas, and raptors like the crested serpent eagle. Experts say this behaviour allows the drongo to outcompete rivals and manipulate mixed-species flocks.“It uses mimicry to disrupt and dominate,” added Sri Ram Reddy. “By mimicking alarm calls, it can scare other birds away, then swoop in and take the food,” he said.The species is usually found in the forests of the northeast, western ghats, and parts of central India. Telangana falls outside its typical range, making this rare. Confirmed sightings in the state are limited to Mahbubabad and Bhadradri Kothagudem districts, both with pockets of dense forest.”The thick forest habitat at Bheemunipadam supports its presence,” Sri Ram said. “But such sightings remain rare in Telangana as most of the state has dry deciduous forest cover.”Forest patches in southern Telangana are now drawing attention for hosting less common species, possibly due to shifts in habitat use or climate-related changes. “The drongo doesn’t just visit. It performs,” Sri Ram added, “And when it does, it leaves no doubt about who’s in control of the soundscape.”
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