BIRDS of THE WORLD - An Online Bird Book
SEARCH 

DRONGOs

Order Passeriformes     Family Dicruridae - 1 genus


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 


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



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 


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 


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 - Singapore


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
   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 





Back to Top