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ShrublandCup nestSmall · 48 g
What the Black Drongo sounds like
ID tip
This bird is glossy black with a wide fork to the tail. Adults usually have a small white spot at the base of the gape. The iris is dark brown (not crimson as in the similar ashy drongo). The sexes cannot be told apart in the field. Juveniles are brownish and may have some white barring or speckling towards the belly and vent, and can be mistaken for the white-bellied drongo. First-year birds have white tips to the feathers of the belly, while second-years have these white-tipped feathers restricted to the vent.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
When to see the Black Drongo
One bar for each month, and every month is filled: this bird is recorded here in all twelve. The wide bar is February, the month with the most records.
Where to see the Black Drongo
The map shades 28 countries with regular records. Everything unshaded has no records. Countries are listed below the map.
About the Black Drongo
The black drongo is a small Asian passerine bird of the drongo family Dicruridae. It is a common resident breeder in much of tropical southern Asia from southwest Iran through Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka east to southern China and Indonesia and accidental visitor of Japan. It is an all black bird with a distinctive forked tail and measures 28 cm (11 in) in length. It feeds on insects, and is common in open agricultural areas and light forest throughout its range, perching conspicuously on a bare perch or along power or telephone lines.
Text adapted from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Easily confused with
Fork-tailed DrongoDicrurus adsimilisThe bird possesses a robust black beak and red eyes.
Greater Racket-tailed DrongoDicrurus paradiseusIn most of its range in Asia, this is the largest of the drongo species and is readily identifiable by the distinctive tail rackets and the crest of curled feather that begin in front of the face above the beak and along the crown to varying extents according to the subspecies.
Ashy DrongoDicrurus leucophaeusThe adult ashy drongo is mainly dark grey, and the tail is long and deeply forked, There are a number of subspecies varying in the shade of the grey plumage.
Side by side: Black Drongo vs Fork-tailed Drongo · Black Drongo vs Greater Racket-tailed Drongo · Ashy Drongo vs Black Drongo
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