Glossy-backed Drongo

SCI Name:  Dicrurus divaricatus
Protonym:  Muscicapa divaricata Verz.Doubl.Zool.Mus.Berlin p. 53
Taxonomy:  Passeriformes / Dicruridae / Dicrurus
Taxonomy Code:  fotdro4
Type Locality:  Senegambia.
Author:  Lichtenstein, MHC
Publish Year:  1823
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).

divaricata / divaricatus
L. divaricatus  spread out  < divaricare  to spread out.
• "MUSCICAPA.  * Cauda divaricata, Edolii.   ...   543.  M. divaricata n.  Drongo à moustaches Le Vaill. Afr. t. 169.?   M. nigra, cauda leviter emarginata, longitudine corporis, rectricibus apice dilatatis divaricatis.  Long. tot. 9", caudae 4½".  Habitus robustior.  Senegamb." (Lichtenstein 1823) (subsp. Dicrurus adsimilis).
• "5. LANIUS DIVARICATUS.   BERIBBA BURONG LILIN.   About seven inches in length; tail as long as the body, and forked; upper-feathers blackish; lower ones white.  The bill is straight, hooked, and notched at the point.  The colour above is grey, becoming brown on the wings; below white.  A black stripe from the bill to the eyes.   Found at Singapore; but it is also known in Sumatra.  The above is the description of the female."(Raffles 1822) (Pericrocotus).

SUBSPECIES

Glossy-backed Drongo (divaricatus)
SCI Name: Dicrurus divaricatus divaricatus
divaricata / divaricatus
L. divaricatus  spread out  < divaricare  to spread out.
• "MUSCICAPA.  * Cauda divaricata, Edolii.   ...   543.  M. divaricata n.  Drongo à moustaches Le Vaill. Afr. t. 169.?   M. nigra, cauda leviter emarginata, longitudine corporis, rectricibus apice dilatatis divaricatis.  Long. tot. 9", caudae 4½".  Habitus robustior.  Senegamb." (Lichtenstein 1823) (subsp. Dicrurus adsimilis).
• "5. LANIUS DIVARICATUS.   BERIBBA BURONG LILIN.   About seven inches in length; tail as long as the body, and forked; upper-feathers blackish; lower ones white.  The bill is straight, hooked, and notched at the point.  The colour above is grey, becoming brown on the wings; below white.  A black stripe from the bill to the eyes.   Found at Singapore; but it is also known in Sumatra.  The above is the description of the female."(Raffles 1822) (Pericrocotus).

Glossy-backed Drongo (lugubris)
SCI Name: Dicrurus divaricatus lugubris
lugubris
L. lugubris  mournful, plaintive  < lugere  to mourn.
● ex “Merle brun du Sénégal” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 563, fig. 1 (unident.).