Drongos: Dicruridae - Physical Characteristics, Behavior And Reproduction, Square-tailed Drongo (dicrurus Ludwigii): Species Accounts - GEOGRAPHIC RANGE, HABITAT, DIET, DRONGOS AND PEOPLE, CONSERVATION STATUS
lost islands forest extinction
Tropical Africa, Madagascar, Asia, Australia, New Guinea, Java, Taiwan, Solomon Islands.
Tropical rain forest, mixed open forest and grassland.
Drongos eat mainly insects, but sometimes spiders, small birds, and nectar.
There is little interaction between drongos and humans.
The World Conservation Union (IUCN) lists two drongo species as Endangered, facing a very high risk of extinction, and four as Near Threatened, in danger of becoming threatened with extinction. Five of the six listed species live on small islands—Aldabra, Andamans, Comoros, Principe, and Mayotte— the sixth on a much larger island, Sumatra. The small islands have lost most of their original habitat, while Sumatra has lost half of its original habitat.
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Drongos are small to medium sized, crow-like birds, usually very dark gray to black all over, a few species being light gray. Black plumage (feathers) shimmers with iridescent green, deep blue, or purple, or the plumage may show spangles, or colored, iridescent spots. The eyes are vivid red or orange, usually a giveaway that the bird is a drongo and not some unrelated black bird. The tail is typic…
Drongos are notorious for aggressive behavior. They will fiercely defend their nests, and attack or harass predators like birds of prey, hornbills, crows, snakes, and humans. Drongos are accomplished, acrobatic flyers. In one recorded instance, a drongo individual escaped the clutches of a little sparrowhawk, which was chasing it in mid-air, by aerial acrobatics, outmaneuvering the predator. Drong…
Physical characteristics: The body length is 7.5 inches (19 centimeters). No weights are recorded. The plumage of males is mostly black with a deep blue sheen, the tail has a small notch, the underwing bears white-tipped feathers. The bill is black, the eyes an intense red, black legs and feet. The female is colored similarly but the overall coloring is duller. Geographic range: Square-tailed dron…
Physical characteristics: The body length is 13 inches (33 centimeters). The plumage is black all over with iridescent shades of blue on the upper wings. The head bears a crest of feathers that begins at the upper base of the beak. The eyes are bright red. The bill is gray. The tail is as long as the body, forked into two narrow, almost wire-like feathers, each of which flares into a rounded shape…
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