Racket-tailed Treepie

The racket-tailed treepie is a slender, long-tailed corvid 31–33 cm long and weighing 114–145 g. A plush black forehead grades into oily green-black body plumage that can look entirely dark in shade. The graduated tail ends in broadened, racket-like tips and is used for balance while the bird moves through branches. Turquoise-blue irises contrast strongly with the otherwise black bill, legs and feet (Wikipedia, general species account; Aerien species account).

It ranges from southern Myanmar and Indochina through the Malay Peninsula to Sumatra, Java and Bali. The species favours scrub, secondary growth, bamboo, open woodland, gardens and village edges, generally at low elevations. Agile birds feed mainly in trees, taking insects and fruit and only rarely descending to the ground. A cup nest is placed in bamboo or a shrub, often a thorny one beside open grassland, and the usual clutch contains two to four eggs (Wikipedia, general species account; Oiseaux.net species account).