The spectacle of a Racket-tailed Drongo in flight can make an air-show look like a cheap circus
The Greater Racket-tailed Drongo (Dicrurus paradiseus) is quite a character. The funky hairdo over the beak, the long-flowing tail and its ability to mimic scores of other birds makes it one very interesting chap to watch. This individual was found next to a huge congregation of birds – the only mixed flock we saw on our trip to ARRS last month. Other birds included Brown-cheeked Fulvettas, Blue-winged Parakeets and Yellow-browed Bulbuls.
The drongo would take off from its perch on the verge of a small grassland adjoining the station campus and twist and turn in the air. It would pick up an insect or two in mid-air and alight on a branch on the other side…
Text and photo by Sandeep Somasekharan
See more posts in our On the Wing series and the Agumbe Diaries
Sandeep Somasekharan (or Sandy as friends call him) took his headlong plunge into photography with a three-megapixel Nikon point-and-shoot he purchased in 2003. The avid reader and occasional scribbler started enjoying travel and nature more as he spent more time photographing. Meeting Beej in 2008 helped him channel his creative energies in the form of essays and nature photographs that he started publishing on The Green Ogre.
Sandy loves to photograph birds and landscapes, and considers photography and writing as his meditation. Now based out of the US, Sandy juggles his time between parental duties, a full time engineering role, writing short fiction in Malayalam, and an occasional birding trip thrown in between. His debut novel in Malayalam hits the bookstalls in January 2025.
Sandy can be found at instagram as @footprintsonlight
Sandy loves to photograph birds and landscapes, and considers photography and writing as his meditation. Now based out of the US, Sandy juggles his time between parental duties, a full time engineering role, writing short fiction in Malayalam, and an occasional birding trip thrown in between. His debut novel in Malayalam hits the bookstalls in January 2025.
Sandy can be found at instagram as @footprintsonlight
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