Common Square-tailed Drongo

SCI Name:  Dicrurus ludwigii
Protonym:  Edolius ludwigii S.Afr.Q.J.(2) -2 p.144
Taxonomy:  Passeriformes / Dicruridae / Dicrurus
Taxonomy Code:  cstdro1
Type Locality:  Port Natal (Durban).
Author:  Smith, A
Publish Year:  1834
IUCN Status:  

DEFINITIONS

DICRURUS
(Dicruridae; † Balicassiao D. balicassius) Gr. δικρος dikros  forked; ουρα oura  tail; "125. DRONGO, Dicrurus.  Lanius, Corvus, Linn. Gm. Lath.  Bec couvert de soies à la base, robuste; mandibule supérieure un peu carénée en dessus, échancrée et crochue vers le bout; l'inférieure aiguë et retroussée à la pointe. — Queue fourchue. — Rectrices 10.   Esp. Balicasse. — Fingah. — Drongo, Buff.  ...  Dicrurus [δικρους, furcatus, ουρα, cauda]." (Vieillot 1816); "Dicrurus Vieillot, 1816 (April 14), Analyse, p. 41.  Type, by subsequent designation, ["Balicasse" of de Buffon =] Corvus balicassius Linnaeus (G. R. Gray, 1841, List Gen. Birds, ed. 2, p. 47)." (Vaurie in Peters, 1962, XV, p. 138).   
Var. Dicruratus (probably an involuntary lapsus or portmanteau of specific combination Dicrurus longicaudatus Hay, 1868), Dicrourus, Dicturus (OD per Martin Schneider).   
Synon. Balicassius, Bhringa, Bhuchanga, Bonaparteis, Chaptia, Chibia, Cometes, Criniger,  Dicrachibia, Dicranostreptus, Dicruropsis, Dissemuroides, Dissemuropsis, Dissemurulus, Dissemurus, Drongo, Drongus, Drymonax, Edolius, Edoliuta, Entomoletes, Melisseus, Musicus, Notochibia, Prepopterus, Trichometopus.
• (Dicruridae; syn. Dicrurus † Black Drongo D. macrocercus) "Dicrurus (Auct)  Bhuchanga." (Hodgson 1841); "Dicrurus Hodgson, 1841, Journal Asiatic Soc. Bengal, X (1), (no. 109), p. 29.  Classical replacement name for Bhuchanga Hodgson, a local substantive name considered inappropriate by some." (JAJ 2020) (see Alcopus).

ludwigii
Karl Ferdinand Heinrich Freiherr von Ludwig (1784-1847) German botanist, collector in South Africa 1805-1847 (Dicrurus, Neotis, subsp. Scleroptila levaillantoides).

SUBSPECIES

Common Square-tailed Drongo (saturnus)
SCI Name: Dicrurus ludwigii saturnus
saturnus
Roman myth. Saturnus Saturn, god of agriculture and civilisation (subsp. Dicrurus ludwigii).

Common Square-tailed Drongo (muenzneri)
SCI Name: Dicrurus ludwigii muenzneri
muenzneri
Feldwebel (Sergeant) Max Münzner (fl. 1911) German Army in German East Africa, explorer (subsp. Campephaga quiscalina, syn. Chlorophoneus nigrifrons, subsp. Cisticola cantans, subsp. Dicrurus ludwigii, syn. Estrilda astrild cavendishi, syn. Phyllastrephus fischeri).

Common Square-tailed Drongo (tephrogaster)
SCI Name: Dicrurus ludwigii tephrogaster
tephrogaster
Gr. τεφρος tephros  ash-coloured  < τεφρα tephra  ashes; γαστηρ gastēr, γαστρος gastros  belly.

Common Square-tailed Drongo (ludwigii)
SCI Name: Dicrurus ludwigii ludwigii
ludwigii
Karl Ferdinand Heinrich Freiherr von Ludwig (1784-1847) German botanist, collector in South Africa 1805-1847 (Dicrurus, Neotis, subsp. Scleroptila levaillantoides).