Drongo
Family of birds
title: "Drongo" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["drongos", "australian-slang"] description: "Family of birds" topic_path: "geography/australia" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drongo" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Family of birds ::
| name = Drongo | image = Dicrurus hottentottus-20030823.jpg | image_caption = Hair-crested drongo (D. hottentottus striatus) | display_parents = 2 | parent_authority = Vigors, 1825 | taxon = Dicrurus | authority = Vieillot, 1816 | type_species= Corvus balicassius (Balicassiao) | type_species_authority = Linnaeus, 1766 | caption=Cladogram based on a study by Eric Pasquet and colleagues published in 2007. | align=right | clades={{clade|style=font-size:75%;line-height:75% |label1=Dicruridae |1={{clade |1=aeneus |label2= |2={{clade |label1= |1={{clade |label1= |1={{clade |1=paradiseus |2=annectens |label2= |2={{clade |label1= |1={{clade |1=megarhynchus |2=bracteatus |label2= |2={{clade |1=hottentotus |2=balicassius |2=remifer |label3= |3={{clade |label1= |1={{clade |label1= |1={{clade |1=waldenii |label2= |2={{clade |1=aldabranus |2=forficatus |label2= |2={{clade |label1= |1={{clade |label1= |1={{clade |1=adsimilis |2=macrocercus |2=modestus |label2= |2={{clade |1=fuscipennis |label3= |3={{clade |1=leucophaeus |label2= |2={{clade |1=atripennis |2=ludwigii
A drongo is a member of the family Dicruridae of passerine birds of the Old World tropics. The 28 species in the family are placed in a single genus, Dicrurus.
Drongos are mostly black or dark grey, short-legged birds, with an upright stance when perched. They have forked tails and some have elaborate tail decorations. They feed on insects and small birds, which they catch in flight or on the ground. Some species are accomplished mimics and have a variety of alarm calls, to which other birds and animals often respond. They are known to utter fake alarm calls that scare other animals off food, which the drongo then claims.
Taxonomy
The genus Dicrurus was introduced by French ornithologist Louis Pierre Vieillot for the drongos in 1816. The type species was subsequently designated as the balicassiao (Dicrurus balicassius) by English zoologist George Robert Gray in 1841. The name of the genus combines the Ancient Greek words dikros "forked" and oura "tail". "Drongo" is originally from the indigenous language of Madagascar, where it refers to the crested drongo; it is now used for all members of the family.
This family now includes only the genus Dicrurus, although Christidis and Boles (2007) expanded the family to include the subfamilies Rhipidurinae (Australasian fantails), Monarchinae (monarch and paradise flycatchers), and Grallininae (magpie larks).
The family was formerly treated as having two genera, Chaetorhynchus and Dicrurus. The genus Chaetorhynchus contains a single species, the New Guinea–endemic C. papuensis. On the basis of both morphological and genetic differences, it is now placed with the fantails (Rhipiduridae) and renamed from the pygmy drongo to the drongo fantail.
The genus Dicrurus contains 28 species:
::data[format=table]
| Image | Common name | Scientific name | Distribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| [[File:Square-tailed Drongo (Dicrurus ludwigii) (cropped).jpg | 120px]] | Square-tailed drongo | Dicrurus ludwigii |
| [[File:SharpesDrongo.jpg | 120px]] | Sharpe's drongo | Dicrurus sharpei |
| [[File:Dicrurus atripennis 111213.jpg | 120px]] | Shining drongo | Dicrurus atripennis |
| [[File:Fork-tailed Drongo (Dicrurus adsimilis) 2.jpg | 120px]] | Fork-tailed drongo | Dicrurus adsimilis |
| [[File:Velvet-mantled Drongo from Canopy Walkway - Kakum NP - Ghana 14 S4E1498 (cropped).jpg | 120px]] | Velvet-mantled drongo | Dicrurus modestus |
| Grande Comore drongo | Dicrurus fuscipennis | Comoros. | |
| [[File:Dicrurus aldabranus 59442457 (cropped).jpg | 120px]] | Aldabra drongo | Dicrurus aldabranus |
| [[File:Crested Drongo, Ankarafantsika National Park, Madagascar.jpg | 120px]] | Crested drongo | Dicrurus forficatus |
| Mayotte drongo | Dicrurus waldenii | Mayotte. | |
| [[File:Black Drongo Dicrurus macrocercus (Vieillot, 1817) (7005202663).jpg | 120px]] | Black drongo | Dicrurus macrocercus |
| [[File:Ashy drongo ,Dicrurus leucophaeus.jpg | 120px]] | Ashy drongo | Dicrurus leucophaeus |
| [[File:Thimindu White bellied Drongo 1.jpg | 120px]] | White-bellied drongo | Dicrurus caerulescens |
| [[File:Crow-billed Drongo (Dicrurus annectans) - Flickr - Lip Kee (cropped).jpg | 120px]] | Crow-billed drongo | Dicrurus annectens |
| [[File:Bronzed Drongo I IMG 1677.jpg | 120px]] | Bronzed drongo | Dicrurus aeneus |
| [[File:Dicrurus remifer 180352515.jpg | 120px]] | Lesser racket-tailed drongo | Dicrurus remifer |
| [[File:Dicrurus balicassius.jpg | 120px]] | Balicassiao | Dicrurus balicassius |
| Short-tailed drongo | Dicrurus striatus | Philippines. | |
| [[File:Dicrurus hottentottus-20030823.jpg | 120px]] | Hair-crested drongo | Dicrurus hottentottus |
| Tablas drongo | Dicrurus menagei | Philippines. | |
| Palawan drongo | Dicrurus palawanensis | Palawan. | |
| Sumatran drongo | Dicrurus sumatranus | Sumatra in Indonesia. | |
| [[File:Wallacean Drongo (Dicrurus densus) (8074119894) (cropped).jpg | 120px]] | Wallacean drongo | Dicrurus densus |
| [[File:Dicrurus montanus 64408649.jpg | 120px]] | Sulawesi drongo | Dicrurus montanus |
| [[File:Dicrurus bracteatus - Wonga.jpg | 120px]] | Spangled drongo | Dicrurus bracteatus |
| Paradise drongo | Dicrurus megarhynchus | New Ireland in the Bismarck Archipelago, Papua New Guinea. | |
| [[File:Andaman Drongo (Dicrurus andamanensis) in tree (cropped).jpg | 120px]] | Andaman drongo | Dicrurus andamanensis |
| [[File:Greater Racket-tailed Drongo Dicrurus paradiseus (Linnaeus, 1766) (16169002507).jpg | 120px]] | Greater racket-tailed drongo | Dicrurus paradiseus |
| [[File:Sri Lanka drongo - Sri Lanka - 01.jpg | 120px]] | Sri Lanka drongo | Dicrurus lophorinus |
| :: |
The family Dicruridae is most likely of Indo-Malayan origin, with a colonization of Africa about 15 million years ago (Mya). Dispersal across the Wallace Line into Australasia is estimated to have been more recent, around 6 Mya.
Characteristics
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/06/Bronzed_Drongo_I_IMG_1682.jpg" caption="[[Bronzed drongo]] (''Dicrurus aeneus'') in India"] ::
These insectivorous birds are usually found in open forests or bush. Most are black or dark grey in colour, sometimes with metallic tints. They have long, forked tails; 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. Some drongos, especially the greater racket-tailed drongo, are noted for their ability to mimic other birds and even mammals.
Two to four eggs 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 nests or young are threatened.
Several species of animals and birds respond to drongos' alarm calls, which often warn of the presence of a predator. Fork-tailed drongos in the Kalahari Desert use alarm calls in the absence of a predator to cause animals to flee and abandon food, which they eat, getting up to 23% of their food this way. They not only use their own alarm calls, but also imitate those of many species, either their victim's or that of another species to which the victim responds. If the call of one species is not effective, perhaps because of habituation, the drongo may try another; 51 different calls are known to be imitated. In one test on pied babblers, the babbler ignored an alarm call repeated three times when no danger was present, but continued to respond to different calls. Researchers have considered the possibility that these drongos possess theory of mind, not fully shown in any animal other than humans.
Insult
The word "drongo" is used in Australian English as a mild form of insult meaning "idiot" or "stupid fellow". This usage derives from an Australian racehorse of the same name (apparently after the spangled drongo, D. bracteatus) in the 1920s that never won despite many places. The word also has been frequently used among friends and can be used in a casual or serious tone.
Gallery
Greater-racket-tailed-drongo-khao-yai.webm|A greater racket-tailed drongo preening at Khao Yai National Park, Thailand A flying greater racket-tailed drongo.jpg|A greater racket-tailed drongo visiting Erythrina flowers at Satchari National Park in Bangladesh Lesser Racket-tailed Drongo at nest - Kang Kra Chan - Thailand S4E4944 (14278976543) (2).jpg|A lesser racket-tailed drongo incubating at Kaeng Krachan National Park in Thailand
References
References
- Vieillot, Louis Pierre. (1816). "Analyse d'Une Nouvelle Ornithologie Élémentaire". Deterville/self.
- Gray. (1841). "A List of the Genera of Birds : with their Synonyma and an Indication of the Typical Species of Each Genus". R. and J.E. Taylor.
- (1962). "Check-list of Birds of the World". Museum of Comparative Zoology.
- Jobling, J.A.. (2018). "Key to Scientific Names in Ornithology". Lynx Edicions.
- Lindsey, Terence. (1991). "Encyclopaedia of Animals: Birds". Merehurst Press.
- 978-0643065116. {{OCLC. 8517604066.
- (2009). "The Systematic Affinity of the Enigmatic ''Lamprolia Victoriae'' (Aves: Passeriformes)—an Example of Avian Dispersal Between New Guinea and Fiji Over Miocene Intermittent Land Bridges?". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution.
- (2018). "Orioles, Drongos, Fantails". International Ornithologists' Union.
- (October 2008). "Evolutionary history and biogeography of the drongos (Dicruridae), a tropical Old World clade of corvoid passerines". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution.
- Flower, T.P.. (2014). "Deception by flexible alarm mimicry in an African bird". Science.
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20140502221033/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/05/140501-drongo-kalahari-desert-meerkat-mimicry-science/ National Geographic: African Bird Shouts False Alarms to Deceive and Steal, Study Shows Drongos in the Kalahari are masters of deception, 1 May 2014]
- Flower, T.. (2010). "Fork-tailed drongos use deceptive mimicked alarm calls to steal food". Proceedings of the Royal Society B.
- Wannan, Bill. (1979). "Australian Folklore". Lansdowne Press.
- "Drongo". Oxford University Press.
- (20 May 1925). "Career of Drongo". [[The News (Adelaide)]].
- Green, Jonathon. (2005). "Cassell's Dictionary of Slang". Orion Publishing Group.
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