Black Drongo
A slim and agile glossy black bird with long deeply forked tail. Its bill
and legs fashionably all black. The bird is a familiar sight in India, and
attracts attention with its graceful shape and fearless attitude. A familiar
bird of open country, usually perched on telegraph wires or attending on
grazing cattle.
Local names : Kolsa, Kalkalachi (
Hindi)
Anaranchi (Malayalam)
Karuvattu vali (Tamil)
It feeds on insects, and is common in open agricultural areas and light
forest throughout its range. They are aggressive and fearless birds, they
will attack much larger species that enter their nesting territory,
including crows and birds of prey. This behavior 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.
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. The usual
clutch is three or rarely four eggs laid in a cup nest placed in the fork
of an outer branch of tree. Large leafy trees such as the jackfruit are
preferred. The eggs are pale cream to red with spots and markings. 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
Its scientific name is Dicrurus macrocercus, where Dicrurus is derived
from the Greek words dikros meaning forked, ouros meaning tailed, while
macrocercus is from the Greek makrokerkos, with makros meaning long and
kerkos meaning tail. In short, the bird has a long and gracefully deep
forked tail, a characteristic feature of most Drongos in India.
References
The Book of Indian Birds (Salim Ali)
Wikipedia
The Hindu article on Black drongo
Pictures:
Kerala, Bangalore
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