Drongo
Encyclopedia
The drongos are a family of small passerine
bird
s of the Old World tropics, the Dicruridae. This family was sometimes much enlarged to include a number of largely Australasia
n groups, such as the Australasian fantails
, monarchs and paradise flycatchers. The name is originally from the indigenous language of Madagascar
, where it refers to local species, but is now used to refer to all members of the family. The family is usually treated as having two genera, Chaetorhynchus and Dicrurus. The genus Chaetorhynchus contains a single species, the New Guinea
endemic Pygmy Drongo
. The placement of this species in the family is highly dubious due to both morphological and genetic differences, and it has recently been placed, along with the closely related Silktail
of Fiji, with the fantails (Rhipiduridae). The remaining genus contains the remaining 25 species of drongo.
The family Dicruridae are believed to be most likely of Indo Malayan origin with a colonization of Africa about 15 million years ago. Dispersal across the Wallace Line
into Australasia is estimated to have been more recent, around 6 mya.
These insectivorous birds are found in usually open forests or bush. Most are black or dark grey in colour, sometimes with metallic tints. They have long forked tails, and some Asia
n species have elaborate tail decorations. They have short legs and sit very upright whilst perched, like a shrike
. Racket-tailed Drongos are the mimicry artists among birds. They can mimic the sound of other birds and some animals. They flycatch or take prey from the ground.
Two to four egg
s are laid in a nest high in a tree. Despite their small size, they are aggressive and fearless, and will attack much larger species if their nest or young are threatened.
The word drongo is used in Australia as a mild form of insult tantamount to the term "idiot", which may refer to the seemingly madcap attacks these birds are prone to launch.
Genus Dicrurus
Genus Chaetorhynchus (Now best placed with Rhipiduridae):
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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...
s of the Old World tropics, the Dicruridae. This family was sometimes much enlarged to include a number of largely Australasia
Australasia
Australasia is a region of Oceania comprising Australia, New Zealand, the island of New Guinea, and neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term was coined by Charles de Brosses in Histoire des navigations aux terres australes...
n groups, such as the Australasian fantails
Fantail
Fantails are small insectivorous birds of southern Asia and Australasia belonging to the genus Rhipidura in the family Rhipiduridae...
, monarchs and paradise flycatchers. The name is originally from the indigenous language of Madagascar
Madagascar
The Republic of Madagascar is an island country located in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa...
, where it refers to local species, but is now used to refer to all members of the family. The family is usually treated as having two genera, Chaetorhynchus and Dicrurus. The genus Chaetorhynchus contains a single species, the New Guinea
New Guinea
New Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago...
endemic Pygmy Drongo
Pygmy Drongo
The Pygmy Drongo is a species of bird endemic to the island of New Guinea. It is monotypic within the genus Chaetorhynchus. The species was long placed within the drongo family Dicruridae, but it differs from others in that family in having twelve rectrices instead of ten...
. The placement of this species in the family is highly dubious due to both morphological and genetic differences, and it has recently been placed, along with the closely related Silktail
Silktail
The Silktail, Lamprolia victoriae is a species of bird endemic to Fiji. It is the only member of the genus Lamprolia. This beautiful bird looks superficially like a diminutive bird of paradise but it is actually closely related to the fantails....
of Fiji, with the fantails (Rhipiduridae). The remaining genus contains the remaining 25 species of drongo.
The family Dicruridae are believed to be most likely of Indo Malayan origin with a colonization of Africa about 15 million years ago. Dispersal across the Wallace Line
Wallace Line
The Wallace Line separates the ecozones of Asia and Wallacea, a transitional zone between Asia and Australia. West of the line are found organisms related to Asiatic species; to the east, a mixture of species of Asian and Australian origin is present...
into Australasia is estimated to have been more recent, around 6 mya.
These insectivorous birds are found in usually open forests or bush. Most are black or dark grey in colour, sometimes with metallic tints. They have long forked tails, and some 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...
n species have elaborate tail decorations. They have short legs and sit very upright whilst perched, like a shrike
Shrike
Shrikes are passerine birds of the family Laniidae. The family is composed of thirty-one species in three genera. The family name, and that of the largest genus, Lanius, is derived from the Latin word for "butcher", and some shrikes were also known as "butcher birds" because of their feeding habits...
. Racket-tailed Drongos are the mimicry artists among birds. They can mimic the sound of other birds and some animals. They flycatch or take prey from the ground.
Two to four egg
Egg (biology)
An egg is an organic vessel in which an embryo first begins to develop. In most birds, reptiles, insects, molluscs, fish, and monotremes, an egg is the zygote, resulting from fertilization of the ovum, which is expelled from the body and permitted to develop outside the body until the developing...
s are laid in a nest high in a tree. Despite their small size, they are aggressive and fearless, and will attack much larger species if their nest or young are threatened.
The word drongo is used in Australia as a mild form of insult tantamount to the term "idiot", which may refer to the seemingly madcap attacks these birds are prone to launch.
Species of Dicruridae in taxonomic order
A phylogenetic overview of the family.Genus Dicrurus
-
- Bronzed DrongoBronzed DrongoThe Bronzed Drongo is a small Indomalayan bird belonging to the drongo group. They are resident in the forests of the Indian Subcontinent and Southeast Asia...
, Dicrurus aeneus - Lesser Racket-tailed DrongoLesser Racket-tailed DrongoThe Lesser Racket-tailed Drongo is a species of bird in the Dicruridae family.It is found in the Indian Subcontinent and Southeast Asia, ranging across Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand, and Vietnam...
, Dicrurus remifer - Square-tailed DrongoSquare-tailed DrongoThe Square-tailed Drongo, Dicrurus ludwigii, is a drongo. The drongos are small passerine birds of 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,...
, Dicrurus ludwigii - Shining DrongoShining DrongoThe Shining Drongo is a species of bird in the Dicruridae family.It is found in Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, and Togo.Its natural habitat is...
, Dicrurus atripennis - Fork-tailed DrongoFork-tailed DrongoThe 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 - Príncipe Drongo, Dicrurus modestus
- Aldabra DrongoAldabra DrongoThe Aldabra Drongo is a species of bird in the drongo family Dicruridae.It is endemic to Seychelles, where it occurs only on the island of Aldabra. It has a small population of only around 1000 birds....
, Dicrurus aldabranus - Comoro Drongo, Dicrurus fuscipennis
- Crested DrongoCrested DrongoThe Crested Drongo is a species of bird in the Dicruridae family.It is found in Comoros, Madagascar, and Mayotte....
, Dicrurus forficatus - Mayotte DrongoMayotte DrongoThe Mayotte Drongo is a species of bird in the Dicruridae family.It is endemic to Mayotte.Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical mangrove forests, subtropical or tropical moist shrubland, and plantations .It is threatened by habitat...
, Dicrurus waldenii - Black DrongoBlack DrongoThe Black Drongo , also known as the King Crow, is a small Asian passerine bird of the drongo family Dicruridae. Previously considered a subspecies of the African Fork-tailed Drongo , it is now recognized as a full species...
, Dicrurus macrocercus - Ashy DrongoAshy DrongoThe 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...
, Dicrurus leucophaeus - White-bellied DrongoWhite-bellied DrongoThe 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...
, Dicrurus caerulescens - Crow-billed DrongoCrow-billed DrongoThe Crow-billed Drongo is a species of bird in the Dicruridae family.It is found in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland...
, Dicrurus annectans - Hair-crested DrongoHair-crested DrongoThe Hair-crested Drongo is an Asian bird of the family Dicruridae. This species was formerly considered conspecific with Dicrurus bracteatus, for which the name "Spangled Drongo" – formerly used for both – is now usually reserved. Some authorities include the Sumatran Drongo in D...
, Dicrurus hottentottus - BalicassiaoBalicassiaoThe Balicassiao is a species of bird in the Dicruridae family.It is endemic to the Philippines.Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.-References:...
, Dicrurus balicassius - Sulawesi DrongoSulawesi DrongoThe Sulawesi Drongo is a species of bird in the Dicruridae family.It is endemic to Indonesia.Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.-References:...
, Dicrurus montanus - Sumatran DrongoSumatran DrongoThe Sumatran Drongo is a species of bird in the Dicruridae family.It is endemic to Indonesia.Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.It is threatened by habitat loss.-References:...
, Dicrurus sumatranus - Wallacean DrongoWallacean DrongoThe Wallacean Drongo or Greater Wallacean Drongo is a species of bird in the Dicruridae family. It can be found in the countries of Indonesia and East Timor. Contrary to the independence of East Timor, the Wallacean Drongo continues to be considered an Indonesian endemic...
, Dicrurus densus - Ribbon-tailed DrongoRibbon-tailed DrongoThe Paradise Drongo or Ribbon-tailed Drongo is a species of bird in the Dicruridae family.It is endemic to Papua New Guinea....
, Dicrurus megarhynchus - Spangled DrongoSpangled DrongoThe Spangled Drongo is a bird of the family Dicruridae.The Spangled Drongo is the only Drongo to be found in Australia...
, Dicrurus bracteatus - Andaman DrongoAndaman DrongoThe Andaman Drongo is a species of bird in the family Dicruridae. The species is endemic to the Andaman Islands of the Indian Ocean...
, Dicrurus andamanensis - Greater Racket-tailed DrongoGreater Racket-tailed DrongoThe Greater Racket-tailed Drongo, Dicrurus paradiseus, is a medium-sized Asian bird which is distinctive in having elongated outer tail feathers with webbing restricted to the tips. They are placed along with other drongos in the family Dicruridae...
, Dicrurus paradiseus
- Bronzed Drongo
Genus Chaetorhynchus (Now best placed with Rhipiduridae):
-
- Pygmy DrongoPygmy DrongoThe Pygmy Drongo is a species of bird endemic to the island of New Guinea. It is monotypic within the genus Chaetorhynchus. The species was long placed within the drongo family Dicruridae, but it differs from others in that family in having twelve rectrices instead of ten...
, Chaetorhynchus papuensis
- Pygmy Drongo
Other sources
.External links
- Drongo videos on the Internet Bird Collection
- http://www.aussieslang.com/slang/australian-slang-d.asp?page=4