Black Drongo
Encyclopedia
The Black Drongo also known as the King Crow, is a small Asia
n passerine
bird
of the drongo
family Dicruridae. Previously considered a subspecies (Dicrurus adsimilis macrocercus) of the African Fork-tailed Drongo
(Dicrurus adsimilis), it is now recognized as a full species. It 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
. It is a wholly black bird with a distinctive forked tail and measures 28 cm (11 in) in length. Feeding on insects, it is common in open agricultural areas and light forest throughout its range, perching conspicuously on a bare perch or along power or telephone lines. The species is famous for its aggressive behaviour towards much larger birds, such as crows, never hesitating to dive-bomb any birds of prey that invades its territory. Smaller birds often nest in the well guarded vicinity of a nesting Black Drongo.
The Black Drongo has been introduced to some Pacific islands, where it has thrived and become abundant to the point of threatening and causing the extinction of native and endemic bird species there.
(Dicrurus adsimilis), a close relative that diverged relatively recently. The two are now considered distinct species, with the Fork-tailed Drongo restricted to Africa and separated from the Asian range of the Black Drongo.
Seven subspecies have been named but the largely contiguous populations show clinal variation and intergrade with each other. Individuals from northern India (ssp. albirictus) are larger than those from the Sri Lankan population minor while those from the peninsular India (nominate subspecies) are intermediate in size. Race cathoecus is found in Thailand, Hong Kong and China. This race has a much smaller rictal spot and the wings are dark with a greenish gloss. In southern Siam a race thai is resident, but overlaps with wintering cathoecus. Race javanus is found on the islands of Java and Bali. Race harterti found in Formosa has the tail length less than the wing.
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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.
They are aggressive and fearless birds, and although only 28–cm (11–in) in length, they will attack much larger species that enter their nesting territory, including crows and birds of prey. This behaviour led to their former name of King Crow. They fly with strong flaps of the wing and are capable of fast manoeuvres that enable them to capture flying insects. With short legs, they sit upright on thorny bushes, bare perches or electricity wires. They may also perch on grazing animals.
They are capable of producing a wide range of calls but a common call is a two note tee-hee call resembling that of the Shikra
(Accipiter badius).
predators of insects but also glean
from the ground or off vegetation. They are found as summer visitors to northeastern Afghanistan and northern Pakistan but are residents from the Indus Valley
until Bangladesh and into India and Sri Lanka. Some populations show seasonal movements that are poorly understood. The Black Drongo can be found in savanna
s, fields, and urban habitats.
Black Drongos were introduced just before the Second World War from Taiwan to the island of Rota
to help in the control of insects. It is believed that they dispersed over the sea to the island of Guam
in the 1950s. By 1967, they were the fourth most commonly seen birds in roadside counts on Guam and are today the most abundant bird there. Predation by and competition from Black Drongos have been suggested as factors in the decline of endemic bird species such as the Rota Bridled White-eye
and the Guam Flycatcher
.
Black Drongos become active very early at dawn and roost later than many other birds. They feed mainly on insects such as grasshoppers, cicadas, termites, wasps, bees, ants, moths, beetles and dragonflies. They sometimes fly close to tree branches, attempting to disturb any insects that may be present. They congregate in fields that are being ploughed, picking up exposed caterpillars and beetle grub
s. As many as 35 birds have been seen at such congregations. They are also attracted to burning grasslands where insects are disturbed. They appear to avoid flies
. They associate with Common Myna
s, Cattle Egret
s and other birds that share a similar diet and habitat. Drongos benefit from this association and are more successful in their foraging. There is only partial overlap in the insect prey sought by mynas and drongos although in rare instances the drongos may rob
prey from mynas. It is said that they imitate the call of the Shikra
so as to put mynas to flight and then to steal prey. Similar behaviour, using false alarm calls, has been noted in the Fork-tailed Drongo
. There are some cases of the Black Drongo preying on small birds, reptiles, or maybe even bats. They have also been on occasion seen feeding on fish Flowers of trees such as Erythrina
and Bombax
may be visited for water and nectar and they are sometimes known to feed on grains. They are only rarely known to take larger arthropods such as scorpions and centipedes. They feed on milkweed butterflies
that are often avoided by other predators and are known to feed late in the evening or night, often on insects attracted to artificial lights.
Black Drongos breed mainly in February and March in southern India, and until August in other parts of the country. Males and females sing in the mornings during the breeding season. Courtship involves aerobatic chases and they may lock their wings and beaks together, with the pair sometimes falling to the ground. Pair bonds are retained for a whole breeding season. The nest is a cup made with a thin layer of sticks placed in the fork of branch, and is built in a week by both the male and female. Eggs are laid close to the first rains in April. The usual clutch is three or rarely four eggs laid in a cup nest placed in the fork of a outer branch of tree. Large leafy tree such as the Jackfruit
are preferred. The eggs are pale cream to red with spots and markings and are 26 mm long (1.05 in) and 19 mm wide (0.75 in). The eggs are incubated by both parents and hatch after 14 to 15 days. Nestlings are brooded for the first five days, after which the young are capable of maintaining a fairly constant body temperature. A second clutch may be laid if the first is destroyed. Nests are sometimes built in telephone poles. A nesting territory of 0.003 to 0.012 km² (0.3 to 1.2 hectare
s) is maintained.
Helpers
, offspring from the previous brood, have sometimes been noted to assist in feeding the fledglings at the nest of their parents. Cases of brood parasitism by the Asian Koel
have been noted. An average breeding success of 44% has been noted with the main cause of fledgling mortality being shortage of insect food which in turn was dependent on rainfall.
s nesting within 10 metres (32.8 ft). An abnormal case of a Red-vented Bulbul feeding
the chicks of a Black Drongo at their nest has been recorded.
They are so aggressive that they may sometimes land on large birds of prey and peck them when mobbing. It has been suggested that the Asian Drongo-cuckoo
(Surniculus lugubris) has evolved to mimic this species. The intensity of mobbing predators was studied in Java and observations showed that there was a significant increase in mobbing, during the nesting season, of some predators such as the Javan Hawk-Eagle
but the Black Eagle
, a nest predator is mobbed with equal intensity in all seasons. It has been suggested that this strategy may avoid giving away the location of nests during the breeding season.
-_juveniles_at_kolkata_i_img_7822.jpg)
Young birds have a yellowish-red gape. The feather follicles appear on the fourth day and pin feathers emerge after a week. Nestlings increase in weight steadily until they are 12 days old. The eyes open on the eighth day, the iris reddish-black while the gape turns red. The young leave the nest after about 16 to 20 days after hatching. They do not have the fork in the tail until three weeks. The parents continue to feed and protect them for a month. Young birds may beg for food for longer, but are often ignored or chased away by the adults. Birds reach breeding condition in about two years.
Play behaviour has been observed with birds dropping a leaf in the air and catching it in mid-air and these may possibly help young birds acquire aerobatic skills.
In southern India, they moult
their feathers from June to October. The wing moult begins in July with the first primary and proceeds towards the tenth. Secondaries are replaced from August after the primaries are at the third quill. The secondary moult is not orderly, the 8th and 7th being dropped earlier than the rest. The tail feathers are moulted centrifugally. Seasonal colour changes in the testicular tissues are caused by variation in melanin
synthesis, with the dark pigmentation being lost during the breeding season.
spp.), endoparasitic cestodes
and nematodes have been described from this species. However no predators or diseases are significant factors in adult mortality.
, but farmers attract them to their fields using artificial perches in fields to encourage them to feed on pest insects.
, revered by Shī‘a Muslims.
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
n passerine
Passerine
A passerine is a bird of the order Passeriformes, which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds or, less accurately, as songbirds, the passerines form one of the most diverse terrestrial vertebrate orders: with over 5,000 identified species, it has roughly...
bird
Bird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...
of the drongo
Drongo
The drongos are a family of small passerine birds of the Old World tropics, the Dicruridae. This family was sometimes much enlarged to include a number of largely Australasian groups, such as the Australasian fantails, monarchs and paradise flycatchers...
family Dicruridae. Previously considered a subspecies (Dicrurus adsimilis macrocercus) of the African Fork-tailed Drongo
Fork-tailed Drongo
The Fork-tailed Drongo, Dicrurus adsimilis, also called the Common Drongo, African Drongo or Savanna Drongo, is a drongo, a type of small passerine bird of the Old World tropics. The species was earlier considered to cover Asia, but the Asian species is now called the Black Drongo...
(Dicrurus adsimilis), it is now recognized as a full species. It is a common resident breeder in much of tropical southern Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
from southwest Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
through India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
and Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
east to southern China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
and Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
. It is a wholly black bird with a distinctive forked tail and measures 28 cm (11 in) in length. Feeding on insects, it is common in open agricultural areas and light forest throughout its range, perching conspicuously on a bare perch or along power or telephone lines. The species is famous for its aggressive behaviour towards much larger birds, such as crows, never hesitating to dive-bomb any birds of prey that invades its territory. Smaller birds often nest in the well guarded vicinity of a nesting Black Drongo.
The Black Drongo has been introduced to some Pacific islands, where it has thrived and become abundant to the point of threatening and causing the extinction of native and endemic bird species there.
Taxonomy and systematics
The Black Drongo was once considered a subspecies of the Fork-tailed DrongoFork-tailed Drongo
The Fork-tailed Drongo, Dicrurus adsimilis, also called the Common Drongo, African Drongo or Savanna Drongo, is a drongo, a type of small passerine bird of the Old World tropics. The species was earlier considered to cover Asia, but the Asian species is now called the Black Drongo...
(Dicrurus adsimilis), a close relative that diverged relatively recently. The two are now considered distinct species, with the Fork-tailed Drongo restricted to Africa and separated from the Asian range of the Black Drongo.
Seven subspecies have been named but the largely contiguous populations show clinal variation and intergrade with each other. Individuals from northern India (ssp. albirictus) are larger than those from the Sri Lankan population minor while those from the peninsular India (nominate subspecies) are intermediate in size. Race cathoecus is found in Thailand, Hong Kong and China. This race has a much smaller rictal spot and the wings are dark with a greenish gloss. In southern Siam a race thai is resident, but overlaps with wintering cathoecus. Race javanus is found on the islands of Java and Bali. Race harterti found in Formosa has the tail length less than the wing.
Description
Gape
In bird anatomy, the gape is the interior of the open mouth of a bird and the gape flange is the region where the two mandibles join together, at the base of the beak...
. The iris is dark brown (not crimson as in the similar Ashy Drongo
Ashy Drongo
The Ashy Drongo is a species of bird in the drongo family Dicruridae. It is found widely distributed across South and Southeast Asia with several populations that vary in the shade of grey, migration patterns and in the size or presence of a white patch around the eye.-Description:The adult Ashy...
). 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
White-bellied Drongo
The White-bellied Drongo is a species of drongos found only in South Asia, mainly in India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Like other members of the family Dicruridae they are insectivorous and is mainly black in colour but with a white belly and vent...
. First-year birds have white tips to the feathers of the belly, while second-years have these white-tipped feathers restricted to the vent.
They are aggressive and fearless birds, and although only 28–cm (11–in) in length, they will attack much larger species that enter their nesting territory, including crows and birds of prey. This behaviour led to their former name of King Crow. They fly with strong flaps of the wing and are capable of fast manoeuvres that enable them to capture flying insects. With short legs, they sit upright on thorny bushes, bare perches or electricity wires. They may also perch on grazing animals.
They are capable of producing a wide range of calls but a common call is a two note tee-hee call resembling that of the Shikra
Shikra
The Shikra is a small bird of prey in the family Accipitridae found widely distributed in Asia and Africa where it is also called the Little Banded Goshawk. The African forms may represent a separate species but have usually been considered as subspecies of the Shikra...
(Accipiter badius).
Distribution and habitat
The Black Drongo is found predominantly in open country and usually perches and hunts close to the ground. They are mostly aerialHawking (birds)
Hawking is a feeding strategy in birds involving catching flying insects in the air. The term usually refers to a technique of sallying out from a perch to snatch an insect and then returning to the same or a different perch...
predators of insects but also glean
Gleaning (birds)
Gleaning is a term for a feeding strategy by birds in which they catch invertebrate prey, mainly arthropods, by plucking them from foliage or the ground, from crevices such as rock faces and under the eaves of houses, or even, as in the case of ticks and lice, from living animals. This behavior is...
from the ground or off vegetation. They are found as summer visitors to northeastern Afghanistan and northern Pakistan but are residents from the Indus Valley
Indus River
The Indus River is a major river which flows through Pakistan. It also has courses through China and India.Originating in the Tibetan plateau of western China in the vicinity of Lake Mansarovar in Tibet Autonomous Region, the river runs a course through the Ladakh district of Jammu and Kashmir and...
until Bangladesh and into India and Sri Lanka. Some populations show seasonal movements that are poorly understood. The Black Drongo can be found in savanna
Savanna
A savanna, or savannah, is a grassland ecosystem characterized by the trees being sufficiently small or widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground to support an unbroken herbaceous layer consisting primarily of C4 grasses.Some...
s, fields, and urban habitats.
Black Drongos were introduced just before the Second World War from Taiwan to the island of Rota
Rota (island)
Rota also known as the "peaceful island", is the southernmost island of the United States Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and the second southernmost of the Marianas Archipelago. It lies approximately 40 miles north-northeast of the United States territory of Guam...
to help in the control of insects. It is believed that they dispersed over the sea to the island of Guam
Guam
Guam is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States located in the western Pacific Ocean. It is one of five U.S. territories with an established civilian government. Guam is listed as one of 16 Non-Self-Governing Territories by the Special Committee on Decolonization of the United...
in the 1950s. By 1967, they were the fourth most commonly seen birds in roadside counts on Guam and are today the most abundant bird there. Predation by and competition from Black Drongos have been suggested as factors in the decline of endemic bird species such as the Rota Bridled White-eye
Rota Bridled White-eye
The Rota Bridled White-eye is a species of bird in the Zosteropidae family. It is endemic to Northern Mariana Islands.Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. It is threatened by habitat loss....
and the Guam Flycatcher
Guam Flycatcher
The Guam Flycatcher or Guam Broadbill was a species of bird in the Monarchidae family. It was endemic to Guam, where it was known locally as the chuguangguang...
.
Food and foraging
Larva
A larva is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle...
s. As many as 35 birds have been seen at such congregations. They are also attracted to burning grasslands where insects are disturbed. They appear to avoid flies
Diptera
Diptera , or true flies, is the order of insects possessing only a single pair of wings on the mesothorax; the metathorax bears a pair of drumstick like structures called the halteres, the remnants of the hind wings. It is a large order, containing an estimated 240,000 species, although under half...
. They associate with Common Myna
Common Myna
The Common Myna or Indian Myna also sometimes spelled Mynah, is a member of family Sturnidae native to Asia. An omnivorous open woodland bird with a strong territorial instinct, the Myna has adapted extremely well to urban environments...
s, Cattle Egret
Cattle Egret
The Cattle Egret is a cosmopolitan species of heron found in the tropics, subtropics and warm temperate zones. It is the only member of the monotypic genus Bubulcus, although some authorities regard its two subspecies as full species, the Western Cattle Egret and the Eastern Cattle Egret...
s and other birds that share a similar diet and habitat. Drongos benefit from this association and are more successful in their foraging. There is only partial overlap in the insect prey sought by mynas and drongos although in rare instances the drongos may rob
Kleptoparasitism
Kleptoparasitism or cleptoparasitism is a form of feeding in which one animal takes prey or other food from another that has caught, collected, or otherwise prepared the food, including stored food...
prey from mynas. It is said that they imitate the call of the Shikra
Shikra
The Shikra is a small bird of prey in the family Accipitridae found widely distributed in Asia and Africa where it is also called the Little Banded Goshawk. The African forms may represent a separate species but have usually been considered as subspecies of the Shikra...
so as to put mynas to flight and then to steal prey. Similar behaviour, using false alarm calls, has been noted in the Fork-tailed Drongo
Fork-tailed Drongo
The Fork-tailed Drongo, Dicrurus adsimilis, also called the Common Drongo, African Drongo or Savanna Drongo, is a drongo, a type of small passerine bird of the Old World tropics. The species was earlier considered to cover Asia, but the Asian species is now called the Black Drongo...
. There are some cases of the Black Drongo preying on small birds, reptiles, or maybe even bats. They have also been on occasion seen feeding on fish Flowers of trees such as Erythrina
Erythrina
Erythrina is a genus of flowering plants in the pea family, Fabaceae. It contains about 130 species, which are distributed in tropical and subtropical regions worldwide. They are trees, growing up to in height...
and Bombax
Bombax
Bombax is a genus of mainly tropical trees in the mallow family. They are native to western Africa, the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, as well as sub-tropical regions of East Asia and northern Australia. Common names for the genus include Silk Cotton Tree, Simal, Red Cotton Tree, Kapok and...
may be visited for water and nectar and they are sometimes known to feed on grains. They are only rarely known to take larger arthropods such as scorpions and centipedes. They feed on milkweed butterflies
Milkweed butterfly
Milkweed butterflies are a subfamily, Danainae, in the family Nymphalidae, or brush-footed butterflies. They lay their eggs on various milkweeds on which their larvae feed...
that are often avoided by other predators and are known to feed late in the evening or night, often on insects attracted to artificial lights.
Nesting and breeding
Jackfruit
The jackfruit is a species of tree in the Artocarpus genus of the mulberry family . It is native to parts of Southern and Southeast Asia. It is the national fruit of Bangladesh, . The jackfruit tree is believed to be indigenous to the southwestern rain forests of India...
are preferred. The eggs are pale cream to red with spots and markings and are 26 mm long (1.05 in) and 19 mm wide (0.75 in). The eggs are incubated by both parents and hatch after 14 to 15 days. Nestlings are brooded for the first five days, after which the young are capable of maintaining a fairly constant body temperature. A second clutch may be laid if the first is destroyed. Nests are sometimes built in telephone poles. A nesting territory of 0.003 to 0.012 km² (0.3 to 1.2 hectare
Hectare
The hectare is a metric unit of area defined as 10,000 square metres , and primarily used in the measurement of land. In 1795, when the metric system was introduced, the are was defined as being 100 square metres and the hectare was thus 100 ares or 1/100 km2...
s) is maintained.
Helpers
Helpers at the nest
Helpers at the nest is a term used in behavioural ecology and evolutionary biology to describe a social structure in which juveniles and sexually mature adolescents of either one or both sexes, remain in association with their parents and help them raise subsequent broods or litters, instead of...
, offspring from the previous brood, have sometimes been noted to assist in feeding the fledglings at the nest of their parents. Cases of brood parasitism by the Asian Koel
Asian Koel
The Asian Koel is a member of the cuckoo order of birds, the Cuculiformes. It is found in South Asia, China, and Southeast Asia. It forms a superspecies with the closely related Black-billed and Pacific Koels which are sometimes treated as subspecies...
have been noted. An average breeding success of 44% has been noted with the main cause of fledgling mortality being shortage of insect food which in turn was dependent on rainfall.
Mobbing and proximity nesting
Their habit of driving away predators from near their nests is believed to encourage other birds such as orioles, doves, pigeons, babblers, and especially bulbuls, to nest in the vicinity. In one study 18 of 40 nests had Red-vented BulbulRed-vented Bulbul
The Red-vented Bulbul is a member of the bulbul family of passerine birds. It is resident breeder in tropical southern Asia from India and Sri Lanka east to Burma and southwestern China. It has been introduced and has established itself in the wild in many Pacific islands including Fiji, Samoa,...
s nesting within 10 metres (32.8 ft). An abnormal case of a Red-vented Bulbul feeding
Interspecific feeding
Interspecific feeding refers to behaviour reported in wild animals, particularly birds where adults of one species feed the young of another species. This usually excludes the case of birds feeding brood parasites. The behaviour has been of theoretical interest since it appears to be provide little...
the chicks of a Black Drongo at their nest has been recorded.
They are so aggressive that they may sometimes land on large birds of prey and peck them when mobbing. It has been suggested that the Asian Drongo-cuckoo
Asian Drongo-cuckoo
The Asian Drongo-Cuckoo Surniculus lugubris is a species of cuckoo that resembles a Black Drongo. It can be easily distinguished by its straight beak and the white barred vent. It is a brood parasite on small babblers...
(Surniculus lugubris) has evolved to mimic this species. The intensity of mobbing predators was studied in Java and observations showed that there was a significant increase in mobbing, during the nesting season, of some predators such as the Javan Hawk-Eagle
Javan Hawk-eagle
The Javan Hawk-Eagle, Nisaetus bartelsi is a medium-sized, approximately 61 cm long, dark brown raptor in the family Accipitridae. Its head and neck are rufous and it is heavily barred black below. It has a long black crest with a white tip. The sexes are similar...
but the Black Eagle
Black Eagle
The Black Eagle is a bird of prey. Like all eagles, it is in the family Accipitridae, and is the only member of the genus Ictinaetus. They soar over forests in the hilly regions of tropical Asia and hunt mammals and birds, particularly at their nests...
, a nest predator is mobbed with equal intensity in all seasons. It has been suggested that this strategy may avoid giving away the location of nests during the breeding season.
Growth and development
Play behaviour has been observed with birds dropping a leaf in the air and catching it in mid-air and these may possibly help young birds acquire aerobatic skills.
In southern India, they moult
Moult
In biology, moulting or molting , also known as sloughing, shedding, or for some species, ecdysis, is the manner in which an animal routinely casts off a part of its body , either at specific times of year, or at specific points in its life cycle.Moulting can involve the epidermis , pelage...
their feathers from June to October. The wing moult begins in July with the first primary and proceeds towards the tenth. Secondaries are replaced from August after the primaries are at the third quill. The secondary moult is not orderly, the 8th and 7th being dropped earlier than the rest. The tail feathers are moulted centrifugally. Seasonal colour changes in the testicular tissues are caused by variation in melanin
Melanin
Melanin is a pigment that is ubiquitous in nature, being found in most organisms . In animals melanin pigments are derivatives of the amino acid tyrosine. The most common form of biological melanin is eumelanin, a brown-black polymer of dihydroxyindole carboxylic acids, and their reduced forms...
synthesis, with the dark pigmentation being lost during the breeding season.
Parasites and diseases
Many ectoparasitic bird lice (Myrsidea spp. and MenacanthusMenacanthus
Menacanthus is a genus of chewing lice which parasitise birds. The taxonomy of this genus is highly uncertain. Most taxonomies have given this genus as having over a hundred species, but recent studies have synonymised dozens of species and found other names to be invalid. Some Menacanthus species...
spp.), endoparasitic cestodes
Cestoda
This article describes the flatworm. For the medical condition, see Tapeworm infection.Cestoda is the name given to a class of parasitic flatworms, commonly called tapeworms, of the phylum Platyhelminthes. Its members live in the digestive tract of vertebrates as adults, and often in the bodies...
and nematodes have been described from this species. However no predators or diseases are significant factors in adult mortality.
Relation to humans
Their habit of preying on bees makes them a nuisance to bee-keepersBeekeeping
Beekeeping is the maintenance of honey bee colonies, commonly in hives, by humans. A beekeeper keeps bees in order to collect honey and other products of the hive , to pollinate crops, or to produce bees for sale to other beekeepers...
, but farmers attract them to their fields using artificial perches in fields to encourage them to feed on pest insects.
In culture
Being common, they have a wide range of local names. The older genus name of Buchanga was derived from the Hindi name of Bhujanga. Other local names include Thampal in Pakistan, Gohalo/Kolaho in Baluchistan, Kalkalachi in Sindhi, Kotwal (=policeman) in Hindi; Finga in Bengali; Phenchu in Assamese: Phenchu; Cheiroi in Manipuri; Kosita/ Kalo koshi in Gujarati; Ghosia in Marathi; Kajalapati in Oriya; Kari kuruvi (=charcoal bird), Erettai valan (=two tail) in Tamil; Passala poli gadu in Telugu; Kaaka tampuratti (=queen of crows) in Malayalam; Kaajana or Kari bhujanga in Kannada and Kauda in Sinhalese. A superstition in central India is that cattle would lose their horn if a newly fledged bird alighted on it. It is held in reverence in parts of Punjab in the belief that it brought water to Husayn ibn AliHusayn ibn Ali
Hussein ibn ‘Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib was the son of ‘Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib and Fātimah Zahrā...
, revered by Shī‘a Muslims.
Other sources
- Bhujle,BV; Nadkarni,VB (1980) Histological and histochemical observations on the adrenal gland of four species of birds, Dicrurus macrocercus (Viellot), Centropus sinensis (Stephens), Sturnus pagodarum (Gmelin) and Columba livia (Gmelin). Zool. Beitrage 26(2):287-295.
- Lamba,BS (1963) The nidification of some common Indian birds. 3. The Black Drongo (Dicrurus macrocercus Viellot). Res. Bull. Panjab Univ. 14(1-2):1-9.
- Shukkur,EAA; Joseph,KJ (1980) Annual rhythm in the Black Drongo Dicrurus adsimilis (family Dicruridae, Passeriformes, Aves). Comparative Physiol. Ecol. 5(2):76-77.
- Shukkur, EAA (1978) Biology, Ecology and Behaviour of the Black Drongo (Dicrurus adsimilis). Thesis, University of Calicut.
External links
- Black Drongo videos, photos & sounds on the Internet Bird Collection