The drongos are a family of small passerine birds of the Old World tropics. These insectivorous birds are found in usually open forests or bush. Most are black or dark gray in colour, sometimes with metallic tints. They have long forked tails, and some Asian species have elaborate tail decorations. They have short legs and sit very upright whilst perched, like a shrike. They flycatch or take prey from the ground.
The family is usually treated as having two genera, Chaetorhynchus and Dicrurus. Chaetorhynchus has contains just one species and whether or not it belongs to Dicruridae is debatable. Dicrurus contains about 25 specieis.
Genus Dicrurus
Balicassiao Dicrurus balicassius Found: Philippines
Image by: 1) John Gerrard Keulemans 2) Alain_Pascua 3) Lip_Kee
1, 2) Subspecies mirabilis has a white belly.
Drongo,_Aldabra Dicrurus aldabranus Found: island of Aldabra in the Seychelles
The Aldabra Drongo has glossy black plumgae; heavy bill; red eyes.
Image by: 1) Seychelles_Post 2) Pinned
Drongo, Andaman Dicrurus andamanensis Found: Andaman Islands of the Indian Ocean
The Andaman Drongo has black plumage glossed with green; deeply forked tail; heavy black bill.
Image by: 1) Shashank Jain 2) Balaji_Venkatesh_Sivaramakrishnan _in_tree.jpg){kind=link}
Drongo,_Ashy Dicrurus leucophaeus Found: south and southeast Asia
The Ashy Drongo has mainly gray plumage; long and deeply forked tail. The darkness of the gray varies by subspecies.
Image by: 1, 2) J M Garg - Kolkata, West Bengal, India 3) Joby_Joseph - India 4) Koshy_Koshy 5) Hiyashi_Haka 6) Francesco_Veronesi - Thailand 7, 8) Lip
Kee Yap - Malaysia
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Drongo,_Black also Crow Drongo Dicrurus macrocercus Found: southern Asia from Iran to Indonesia
The Black Drongo has black plumage; forked tail.
See also Southern Black Flycatcher for a similar named species.
Similar to: Bronzed Drongo. Bronzed Drongo slightly smaller than Black Drongo and also has more of a gloss.
Similar to: Hair-crested Drongo. Black Drongo has forked tail; Hair-crested Drongo tail curls at the tip.
Image by: 1) Lin_Sun_Fong - Taiwan 2) Ravi Vaidyanathan 3) Arthur Chapman 4) Srikaanth_Sekar - India Similar to: Bronzed Drongo. Bronzed Drongo slightly smaller than Black Drongo and also has more of a gloss.
Similar to: Hair-crested Drongo. Black Drongo has forked tail; Hair-crested Drongo tail curls at the tip.
Drongo_Bronzed Dicrurus aeneus Found: Indian subcontinent to Indonesia, Malaysia
The Bronzed Drongo has dark plumage; glossy bluish-black upperparts; lighter underparts; head velvety black.
Similar to: Black Drongo. Bronzed Drongo slightly smaller than Black Drongo Bronzed Drongo has bluish gloss..
Image by: 1) Hiyashi Haka 2) Vivekpuliyeri 3, 4) J M Garg - Kolkata, West Bengal, India Similar to: Black Drongo. Bronzed Drongo slightly smaller than Black Drongo Bronzed Drongo has bluish gloss..
_at_Narendrapur_near_Kolkata_I_IMG_7730.jpg){kind=link}
Drongo,_Comoro Dicrurus fuscipennis Found: Comoros islands which are near Madagascar
The Comoro Drongo has black plumage with some brown tinge.
Image by: 1) Pete Morris 2) Pinned
Drongo, Crested Dicrurus forficatus Found: Comoros, Madagascar
The Crested Drongo has black plumage; black crest; forked tail.
Image by: 1) Frank Vassen - Madagascar 2) Jialiang Gao - Madagascar 3, 4, 5) Dick Daniels - Madagascar
Drongo, Crow-billed Dicrurus annectans Found: southeast Asia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines
The most distinctive features of the Crow-billed Drongo is its massive bill and white blotches on underparts.
Image by: 1, 2) Lip Kee - India
Drongo, Fork-tailed also Common Drongo Dicrurus adsimilis Found: Africa
Image by: 1) Dick Daniels - Kenya 2) Arno Meintjes 3) Lip Kee Yap in alsogera National Park, Rwanda 4, 5) Dick Daniels - Kruger National Park, South Africa 6) Sandy Cole - Kruger
1) Juvenile
Drongo,_Greater_Racket-tailed Dicrurus paradiseus Found: Asia
The Greater Racket-tailed Drongo is the largest drongo in most of its range.
Image by: 1) Praveenp 2) Hiyashi_Haka 3) Johnny Wee 4) Lip Kee Yap - Singapore
Drongo, Hair-crested Dicrurus hottentottus Found: Asia
The Hair-crested Drongo has black plumage with a greenish tinge in spots; tail not forked but curls at the tips. There can be hair-like tufts on the head.
Similar to: Black Drongo. Black Drongo has forked tail; Hair-crested Drongo tail curls at the tip.
Image by: 1) Frankie Chu 2) Ron Knight 3) Vijay_Ismavel 4) Dougjj - SingaporeSimilar to: Black Drongo. Black Drongo has forked tail; Hair-crested Drongo tail curls at the tip.
Drongo,_Lesser_Racket-tailed Dicrurus remifer Found: southeast Asia, Indonesia, Malaysia
Image by: 1) Francesco Veronesi - Malaysia 2) Melvin Yap 3) Prosenjit_Singha_Deo- India
Drongo, Mayotte Dicrurus waldenii Found: Mayotte (island north of Madagascar
Image by: 1) John Gerrard Keulemans 2) Roger Le Guen
Drongo,_Ribbon-tailed also Paradise Drongo Dicrurus megarhynchus Found: New Guinea
Image by: 1) Katerina_Tvardikova 2. 3) Greg Miles
Drongo,_Shining Dicrurus atripennis Found: Africa
The Shining Drongo has shining black plumage.
Image by: 1) Joris_Wiethase
Drongo,_Spangled Dicrurus bracteatus Found: Australia
The Spangled Drongo has black plumage which is iridescent with blue and purple highlights; small white spots on the breast.
Image by: 1) David Cook 2) Glen Fergus 3) JJ_Harrison 4) Ian_Sutton
Drongo, Square-tailed Dicrurus ludwigii Found: Africa
The Square-tailed Drongo has glossy black plumage; duller wings; black bill; red eyes. Female less glossy.
Image by: 1) Dick Daniels near Kruger National Park, South Africa 2) Alan Manson.jpg){kind=link}
See also Southern Black Flycatcher for a similar looking species.
Drongo,_Sumatran Dicrurus sumatranus Found: Sumatra in Indonesia
The Sumatran Drongo was considered conspecific with the Hair-crested Drongo.
Image by: 1) hbw.com
Drongo, Sri Lanka Dicrurus lophorinus Found: Sri Lanka
Image by: 1) Rehman_Abubakr 2) Niroshan Jayawardena
Drongo, Sulawesi Dicrurus montanus Found: Sulawesi (Indonesia)
Image by: 1) Francesco Veronesi
Drongo,_Tablas Dicrurus menagei Found: Tablas island of the Philippines
The Tablas Drongo was formerly considered conspecific with the Hair-crested Drongo
Image by: 1) Sylvia_Ramos
Drongo, Velvet-mantled Dicrurus modestus Found: Africa
Image by: 1) Francesco Veronesi - Ghana 2) Lip Kee - Rwanda
Drongo, Wallacean Dicrurus densus Found: Indonesia
Image by: 1) Ron Knight - West Timor 2) Jay Ramji
Drongo,_White-bellied Dicrurus caerulescens Found: south Asia
Image by: 1) Eric_Gropp - southern India 2) Dibyendu_Ash - India 3) Hafiz Issadeen 4) Thimindu - Colombo, Sri Lanka
