Black Drongo
Dicrurus macrocercus
- KingdomAnimalia (Animals)
- PhylumChordata (Cordats)
- ClassAves (Aus)
- OrderPasseriformes
- FamilyDicruridae (Drongos)
- GenusDicrurus (Drongos)
- SpeciesDicrurus macrocercus (Black Drongo)
The black drongo (Dicrurus macrocercus) is a small Asian passerine bird of the drongo family Dicruridae. It is a common resident breeder in much of tropical southern Asia from southwest Iran through Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka east to southern China and Indonesia and accidental visitor of Japan. It is an all black bird with a distinctive forked tail and measures 28 cm (11 in) in length. It feeds on insects, and is common in open agricultural areas and light forest throughout its range, perching conspicuously on a bare perch or along power or telephone lines. The species is known for its aggressive behaviour towards much larger birds, such as crows, never hesitating to dive-bomb any bird of prey that invades its territory. This behaviour earns it the informal name of king crow. Wikipedia →
Closest Relatives at Minneriya National Park
White-bellied Drongo
Dicrurus caerulescens
Greater Racket-tailed Drongo
Dicrurus paradiseus
Ashy Drongo
Dicrurus leucophaeus
Indian Robin
Saxicoloides fulicatus
Purple-rumped Sunbird
Leptocoma zeylonica
Black-hooded Oriole
Oriolus xanthornus
Oriental Pipit
Anthus rufulus
Large-billed Crow
Corvus macrorhynchos
Yellow-billed Babbler
Turdoides affinis
Common Iora
Aegithina tiphia
Common Tailorbird
Orthotomus sutorius
Oriental Magpie-Robin
Copsychus saularis
📅 Monthly Probability
Fewer than 5 records of Black Drongo at Minneriya National Park — not enough to chart months honestly.
🌅 When They're Spotted
Most active at dawn and dusk · across all parks (global)
Global Distribution
Where this species is recorded worldwide. Restricted to human observations from 2019 onwards — the same kind of record and the same period the probabilities on this page are built from, so collar-tracking studies, camera-trap arrays and museum specimens are excluded. Around Santa Rosa that removes 5,924 GPS fixes from a handful of tagged jaguars.
where this species is recorded (GBIF density — it tracks where observers go, not how likely a sighting is) · parks where it occurs — tap a pin for the sighting probability there