Black Drongo
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| Black Drongo | ||||||||||||||
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| Dicrurus macrocercus Vieillot, 1817 |
The Black Drongo, Dicrurus macrocercus, is a small Asian bird. The drongos are passerines restricted to the Old World tropics. They were previously classed as the family Dicruridae, but that has been much enlarged to include a number of largely Australasian groups, such as the Australasian fantails and the monarchs and paradise flycatchers.
The Black Drongo is a common resident breeder in much of tropical southern Asia from southwest Iran through India and Sri Lanka east to southern China and Indonesia.
This species is usually found in open forests and similar lightly wooded habitats, including farmland and habitation. Three or four eggs are laid in a cup nest in a tree.
These are aggressive and fearless birds, 28 cm in length, and will attack much larger species if their nest or young are threatened.
The adult Black Drongo is mainly glossy blue-black, although the wings are duller. The tail is long and deeply forked, and there is a white spot in front of the eye. Young birds are dull dark brown.
The Black Drongo has short legs and sits very upright whilst perched prominently, like a shrike. It eats insects and other small animals.
Reference
- Birds of India by Grimmett, Inskipp and Inskipp, ISBN 0-691-04910-6