About Surniculus lugubris dicruroides (Hodgson, 1839)
The square-tailed drongo-cuckoo can be easily identified by its downcurved beak, white barred vent and outer undertail, and a tail that is only notched with slightly flared tips. When in flight, a white wing-stripe can be seen from below. This species is a brood parasite that lays its eggs in the nests of small babblers. It remains unknown how or whether the species' drongo-like appearance provides it with benefits, but it is suspected to aid brood-parasitism, in the same way that hawk-cuckoos have a hawk-like appearance that helps with their brood parasitism. The square-tailed drongo-cuckoo was previously classified as conspecific with the fork-tailed drongo-cuckoo; the two were together called the Asian drongo-cuckoo. However, observed vocal and morphological differences indicated that these two groups should be split into separate species.
